Mid 20th Century Lalique Duncan No. 3 Crystal Perfume Bottle — René Lalique 1931 Design

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Description

This is a bottle with real presence. At a full 8 inches tall, 3⅝ inches wide and a solid 1¾ … Read more This is a bottle with real presence. At a full 8 inches tall, 3⅝ inches wide and a solid 1¾ pounds of clear French crystal, the Duncan No. 3 is an oversized dressing-table flacon that reads more like sculpture than a perfume bottle — it holds a shelf, a vanity, or a bar cart the way a small monument holds a plinth.

Designed by René Lalique in 1931 for the Duncan garniture de toilette, the body is molded as a cascade of stepped, concentric rectangles — pure Art Deco architecture in glass — framing a frosted intaglio panel of two nude dancers intertwined in embrace, repeated on the reverse. The massive frosted rectangular slab stopper completes the silhouette. This example is the post-war Cristal Lalique production in crystal (René's originals were glass), with the later rectangular stopper and the etched "Lalique ® France" mark underfoot — photographed in the last picture.

The story: Lalique named the pattern for Isadora Duncan, the American dancer who scandalized and then conquered Europe by dancing barefoot in Greek tunics, preaching a return to the harmony of the classical body. The two dancers suspended in the frosted panel — bodies curved into one another, framed by all that Deco geometry — are her philosophy pressed into crystal: freedom of movement caught inside perfect order.

Measures approx. 7⅞–8″ H (with stopper) × 3⅝″ W × 2″ D; weighs 1.75 lb. Clear and frosted crystal, made in France. Excellent condition — please review all photos, which show the exact item you will receive. See less