René LALIQUE (1860-1945) Three pieces of silver jewelry (800). The main one formed by two large bats in flight, wings spread, and the two small identical motifs composed of two small bats, one in flight the other in profile, wings folded. The whole punctuated with stars, and partly enamelled night blue and light blue. Signed LALIQUE on the two main bats. Total gross weight : 63.8 g. Dim. 9 x 8.5 cm and 4.5 x 3 cm approximately. Missing enamels, transformations, incomplete. Provenance : Eugénie Meurlot-Chollet built the Villa Pax in Boulouris-sur-Mer at the end of the 19th century. An artist herself and a student of Jules Chéret, she was one of the muses and great ambassadors of René Lalique's jewelry. In her villa in the south of France, she welcomed her close friends, Sarah Bernhardt, Alphonse Mucha, Raoul Dufy, or Natalie Clifford-Barney, a rich American, a great lover of Lalique's jewelry, whose sister bequeathed the collection to the Museum of Decorative Arts. In this collection, the silver ring, blue enamel and opal decorated with a bat, symbol of homosexuality, was given to her by Liane de Pougy. The current owner's aunt and uncle bought the Villa Pax from Jenny Meurlot-Chollet's niece, Mathilde Chollet, who lived in the villa until her death.