I HAVE always liked Ceylan iridescent glass vases by René Lalique and I recall that, during my time at Christie’s in the early 1970s, examples routinely made 45 guineas in our London auctions. These vases, sometimes fitted as lamps, are satisfying market indicators: neither excessively rare nor commonplace, the design of paired lovebirds is standard, but there are slight differences in colour and quality.
Over the next couple of decades, prices rose to about £2,000 and, now, £8,000 or even £10,000 is quite possible. In 2011, one sold for $22,500 (£16,800), but I’m not aware that there has been anything similar since.
Of course, in these times when a painting that is not, shall we say, universally esteemed has been hammered down at $450 million (£336 million), even that last…