Doris Duke’s pierrot by Van Cleef & Arpels

This charming Pierrot brooch has a nice provenance, it comes  from Doris Duke’s personal jewelry collection.

It was made for Van Cleef & Arpels designed and patented by Maurice Duvalet in 1949. Duvalet worked both for Van Cleef & Arpels and John Rubel & Co. and was most famous for his ballerina brooches that he designed for both companies.

One of the masterpieces at the Rare Jewels and Objets d’Art: A Superb Collection at Christies NY in 2009 was the diamond ruby and emerald “ballerina” brooch. Several ballerina brooches had been designed in the late thirties by Maurice Duvalet for the New York branch of Van Cleef & Arpels. This particular brooch depicts Maria Camargo, a Spanish star ballet dancer from the 18th century, posed in arabesque. The use of emeralds and rubies resulted in a brilliant rendering of the flowers set on her costume as pictured by a French painting from Nicolas Lancret. Maurice Duvalet designed this particular piece in 1942 and used mainly rose-cut diamonds which are reputed to have originated from the Spanish Crown Jewels. This piece was manufactured by John Rubel & Co, the usual manufacturer for Van Cleef & Arpels New York. Estimated by Christie’s at $80,000 to $120,000, the brooch reached $350,000 (before commission). Also the Arpels had close ties with the ballet and were influenced by the great dancers and choreographers of the day. They even approached George Balanchine to produce a ballet entitled ‘Jewels’ where various countries were represented by different precious stones.

Duvalet’s,  more modest Pierrot, is in the same style. It is made from 18 carat gold, weighing 9.8 grams.  The brooch has graduated cultured pearl arms and legs that move, and a cabochon ruby head.  It measures approximately 2 inches tall, and is signed and numbered: Van Cleef & Arpels, 15838.

This pierrot brooch was originally owned by the tobacco heiress, Doris Duke  (1912 – 1993).  All Ms. Duke’s jewellery was sold by Christie’s auction house in 2004.  Per Doris Duke’s instructions in her will, all of her jewelry was temporarily on display at her home, Rough Point, in Newport, Rhode Island prior to the auction.  Her jewelry collection was overwhelming.  Duke’s 399 piece jewelry collection was catalogued in Gems From the East and the West, The Doris Duke  Jewelry Collection, by Janet Zapata, Ulysses Dietz and Zette Emmons in 2003. Page 102 of the catalogue shows our Pierrot brooch.

Holy Insects

Egyptian Revival Scarab Pendant
This is a very rare large Egyptian Revival pendant made in England circa 1870. The 18-carat gold mounting is decorated with enamel with an Egyptian style color palette of red, white and blue. An ancient so-called heart scarab is embedded in the mount. This amulet (4.3 x 3.3 cm.) of turquoise glazed faience represents a scarab. It dates from the Ptolemaic or Roman period (1st BC – 1st AC).

The scarab symbol
This scarab is an authentic Egyptian artifact, brought back from Egypt. To the ancient Egyptians the scarab or dung beetle was the symbol of resurrection and eternal life. The fact that it uses its hind legs to roll a piece of dung backwards into its nest made Egyptians believe the insect had the same power as the god Ra. Why? Because Ra moved the sun in the same way. Since the sun keeps rising every day and eternally, the scarab is as holy as Ra.

Scarabs were often given to the deceased to ensure life after death. (Since the amulet is not inscribed with a prayer or a name, it is not likely that this scarab was buried with a person of importance. Its charm is no less strong because of that.) Originally this type of heart scarab was sewed to the breast of a mummy accompanied by two wings to assist the journey to the afterlife. On the back of this amulet there is even still a small trace of the mummy wrapping visible. The symbol of the scarab was used for many purposes including inscribing prayers, making official seals and commemorating special events. Some scarab amulets were also worn in daily life as a ‘regular’ protection against evil.

Great Egyptian discoveries and Revival
Many discoveries of great cultures have lead to a revival of interest in their art and jewellery. Among these have been Roman, Greek and Celtic revivals. The discovery of the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs and the objects with which they were buried and were presumed to take with them to the afterlife, have inspired many works of art.

Napoleon had already been greatly inspired by Egypt at the time of his Egyptian expeditions in 1798, as is reflected in early 19th-century French art and architecture in the form of Egyptian ornamentation, such as scarabs, sphinxes, winged lions and lotuses.

Napoleon was superstitious and supposedly wore a simple Egyptian scarab as a talisman on his finger. So as not to be lonely in the afterlife, the story goes that he also gave one to his mistress, Marie Walewska.

There were many Egyptian highlights in the mid-19th century. The Rosetta stone helped Jean Francois Champillon decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs – all traditional art and jewelry at that time was decorated with hieroglyphs. In 1859 the archeologist Auguste Mariette discovered Queen Ahhotep’s grave (from 1550 BC) and her jewels were shown at the 1862 World Exhibition in London, where they caught the attention of the Prince of Wales. Having just returned from a Grand Tour in Egypt, the Prince gave Princess Alexandra of Denmark a very special wedding gift in 1863: an Egyptian-style necklace set with scarabs made by the jeweler Robert Phillips.

It was not until after the discovery of Ahhotep’s tomb and the creation of the Suez Canal in 1867 that Egyptomania spread like wildfire throughout Europe. This pendant combines an ancient artifact with a modern (Victorian) setting, yielding an astonishing synthesis in the field of Egyptian art. Ancient traditions always seem to inspire contemporary developments.

Queen Amanishaketo’s bracelet
The technique used in this Revival pendant can be compared with that of one of the first spectacular Egyptian jewellery finds; the Nubian bracelet of Queen Amanishaketo at Meroe, Sudan (then South Egypt), discovered by Giuseppe Ferlini in 1834. In our pendant, as in other revivalist jewels, the colored glass inlays of ancient ones, have been replaced by enamel.

Autumn jewels

Tatty Devine‘s fallen leaves charm bracelet

JAR’s oak leaf and acorn earrings

Citrine 5os four leave cloaver brooch

Art Nouveau ivy bracelet by Emile Froment Meurice

JAR’s chestnut bracelet

Three 5os stylized chrysanthemum brooches

Lalique’s willow chestnut corsage ornament, circa 1904

Tatty Devine black English oak silhouette necklace

The ‘Moon of Baroda’ is a girl’s best friend

Kunsthandel Inez Stodel’s Fall Exhibition 24 September – 2 October

Kunsthandel Inez Stodel cordially invites you to our Fall Exhibition.

We will show our latest acquisitions and artworks by Philip Sajet for the occasion of OPEN! 2010 in the Spiegelkwartier in Amsterdam.

Opening hours:
24 September until 2 October : 11.00 – 17.00
On Saturday 25 September the artist, Philip Sajet, will be present
Monday 27 September closed

Philip Sajet

In 1977 – when the first snow fell – Philip Sajet first decided to make jewellery. Nine years later he had his first solo exhibition and now his work is shown at Kunsthandel Inez Stodel for Sajet’s 39th solo exhibition. At our special request Philip has made many of his most famous jewels, such as the Palette Necklace and the Harlequin Ring. Philip Sajet was born in 1953 in Amsterdam.

His father was Dutch, but his mother, whose father was a jeweller in Paris, came from France. A few years ago Sajet and his wife moved to the South of France, where they are both goldsmith. Sajet has his own vision of his craft “Jewels are small objects that you wear on the skin, cheer you up, adorn us and to show our necessary vanity”. In his clearly defined area of rings, necklaces and earrings Sajet shows us his groundbreaking designs. Sajet is honored that his work is shown in a jewellery loving environment for the first time.

We have chosen Philip Sajet because his jewels are works of art that show a lot of craftsmanship, love and humour. They are contemporary but go back to the basis of the art of jewellery. You will see large minerals, glass and pearls with a lot of colored enamel. The shape of diamonds often returns in different guises. For us there are many surprises, not only in Sajet’s view of his craft but also in how he gives this expression.

In 2011, the CODA Museum in Apeldoorn will stage a Sajet retrospective.

Moon of Baroda by Philip Sajet

The Moon of Baroda by Philip Sajet is an 18 carat gold ring, set with seven cabochon flints and a pear cut citrine of circa 24 carats. Sajet was inspired by the pear shaped canary yellow diamond from India with the same name.

Marilyn Monroe and the Moon of Baroda

The original Moon of Baroda of 24.04 carats was owned by the Maharajas of Baroda for 500 years before it was bought by Meyer Rosenbaum, director of Meyer Jewellery Company, in 1920. The diamond was borrowed to the most extraordinary Hollywood movie star of all times, Marilyn Monroe for her performance of Diamonds are a girl’s best friend in the legendary movie Gentlemen prefer blondes. In real life Marilyn did not own real diamonds.

Marilyn sings Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

Barbie’s pink diamond

World news? Maybe not, but one month from now Christie’s New York will auction off the rarest and most expensive Barbie doll with an estimate of $545,000.

Mattel has asked the famed Australian jewellery designer, Stefano Canturi, to design a Barbie and create her ultimate accessories. He designed her a little black dress and a beautiful demi suite. The suite includes a ring and necklace with over three carats of white diamonds set in Canturi’s distinct cubism style: geometric lines in ditto or curved patterns. The necklace is highlighted by a pretty one carat bright pink square-cut diamond from the Australian Argyle mine. Just imagine this set life-size!

Canturi explains on his website: “I wanted the jewelry design to pay homage to Barbie’s modern yet timeless style, this is why I applied my Cubism design concept to her look; it is perfect for her.“

Barbie will be auctioned at Christie’s “Magnificent Jewels” sale on October 20th 2010. Canturi & Mattel will donate 100 % of the profits to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Who’s bidding?

Below is Stefano Canturi with his Barbie.

GOLD, also known as shining dawn…

From 13 June to 6 January 2011, the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht will show a spectacular and unique exhibition on gold. Also spectacular and unique is the guest curator for this exhibition: the famous Dutch fashion designer and performance artist Aziz Bekkaoui.

The aim of this exhibition is not to dazzle people with the glitter and glam of this coveted precious metal, the purpose is to intrigue and amaze the public. The museum has asked Bekkaoui to answer questions as; What is the meaning of gold? What qualities are attributed to it? And what is the real value of gold? What powers are derived from it? What is gold in the proportion of religion and the philosophy of life? Aziz shows surprising answers along the different aspects of gold: protection, decoration, power, immortality, value and worship.

Crowns, sceptres, icons, masks and jewellery are some of the objects that have been made from gold at all times, and for all reasons.  In the exhibition Gold, Aziz enhances the museum’s own collection of religious objects with remarkable, surprising, old and contemporary works on loan. Together they not only tell the story of the applications and functions of gold, but also show that gold is used in much the same ways today as it was centuries ago.

The beautiful liturgical objects from the depot of the Catharijneconvent comprise many stunning, gold-embellished paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, chalices and clothes. They illustrate the tradition that gold is the only material worthy of praising the Lord: only gold can contain the divine. Such as a silver gilded chalice in the Catholic doctrine. It does not simply contain red wine, but also the blood of Christ during Holy Communion.

The secular use of gold is nicely illustrated with a marvelous object loaned by the Dutch Royal House: the British Field-Marshall’s staff belonging to King Willem II. In 1845, the Dutch king was appointed Field Marshall of Great Britain in 1845 by the Duke of Wellington, under whose command he had fought in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The staff is executed in gold and velvet and radiates a sense of power – similar to a bishop’s crozier from the museum’s own collection.

The exhibition is set up in an interesting associative and artistic way. A gilded wooden crown of an Ashanti king is placed alongside a facsimile of a gilded Roman helmet. And as a modern equivalent, Aziz exhibits a face cream by La Prairie containing… gold! He comments: ‘Gold on crowns and helmets offers protection from external forces, in face creams it protects from the aging process’. And so it is.

On loan from the State Museum of History in Moscow a gilded evangelistary is shown in which the holy word is highlighted in gold. This tradition is also found in Islamic culture as shown in a juz (a section of the Koran) from the Museum of Ethnography in Leiden. The book dates from the sixteenth or seventeenth century and its cover is completely coated in gold. Opposite it, Aziz has placed today’s holy book: a gilded laptop. Interesting contradiction, similar radiation.

Gold will always be a valuable commodity. We have hundreds of every day examples: the golden Olympic medal, golden symbols on statues, golden fashion-logo’s and common gold jewelry. And even the golden Credit Card in your wallet…

Besides the exhibition, the museum organizes treasure hunting for children (the never ending search for gold) and a course in gilding. A special Gold magazine is published for the occasion and: all the Golden Calves awarded by the Dutch Film Festival are on display.

At the same time, the neighborly Geldmuseum will discuss the recently very relevant theme of the value of money where visitors are able to see a visualization of the complete but scarce gold stock of the world. More questions are asked: what is the worth of gold and what is it worth to you?

We are already looking forward to the exhibition! In the mean time we will have to provide ourselves with Kimpun Sake, Goldstrike or even a sip of Bruidstranen. Wonder what that will taste like…

Tobias Wong’s Dadaist jewels

Last month the artist Tobias Wong died. Wong suffered from insomnia and did extreme and crazy thing while sleepwalking all his life.  Sadly now he has killed himself in one of his sleepwalking escapades. We are very sorry.

Tobias Wong was the creator of a lot of humorous and provocative jewels and designs that question concepts like luxury and consumerism in the art world that promotes luxury. Even though I take adornments seriously and don’t find them superfluous often, artists like Wong give us the opportunity to look at jewellery in a different way. Here are some of those exceptions:

Ballistic Rose

Wong made a classical decorative corsage out of bulletproof fabric. A high-tech talisman that will protect your heart in an uncertain world.

The Diamond Project

This project entailed series of diamond-based concept art; a diamond screensaver, a rubber bouncing ball infused with 2 carats of micro diamonds and hidden diamond ring with the stone on the inside rather than on top of  it.  The ring challenges problem young lovers encounter when they have to buy big stones with their fiancees – in the US that is! In the Netherlands we don’t have this problem. Diamond wedding rings are given as engagement rings and engagement rocks are for later in life or for some too decadent to even look at. For this the hidden diamond ring is a common known and serious design in The Netherlands, where in the US it is a joke.

Killer Engagement Ring

Is the diamond in this engagement ring a Perfect Cut or not? Who cares, because there is no (need for) fire or brilliance in this killer ring. A one carat diamond ring with its pavilion up, so that the sharp culet can function as weapon, since diamond is the hardest stone on earth with which you can really hurt someone. Apart from a weapon Wong’s engagement ring could serve as a stylish and effective means of scratching your cheating ex-fiance’s car.

Indulgences collection

Wong created this collection with fashion designer Ken Courtney of Just Another Rich Kid. The project commented on todays consumer culture where everything is being turned into a luxury item. What do you give a person who already has everything? Instead of gilt toothbrushes, this collection featured the ultimate luxury and unnecessary goods: Cokespoons made out of everyday objects that can be used to scoop cocaine.. They made bronze replicas of Bic pen caps plated in 18K gold, gilt bronze replicas of McDonald’s coffee sticks commonly used as a coke spoon in the 1970s and eventually discontinued upon request from U.S. drug enforcement officials.

Gold Pills

Another indulgence were these 24K gold leaf capsule pills only intended to consume and digest.

“diamonds vs. black” for Colette Meets Comme des Garçons

In this Japanese and French collaborated exhibition, Wong showed diamond-embedded dimes, and Tiffany & Co. cultured pearl earings dipped in black rubber. One special edition of Comme des Garçons perfume featured diamonds floating within the fragrance.

Enchanted Rings

Another travelling exhibition is that of the Enchanted Rings (De BetoveRING). These rings can be seen from June 27th 2010 to August 29th at the Museum of Enamel and Glass Art in Ravenstein, The Netherlands.

The Dutch Society of Gold- and Silver smiths (VGZ) and the Dutch Board for Craft Trades (HBA) have organized the 4th annual design contest for gold- and silversmiths, with Enchanted Rings (De BetoveRING) as its theme. 18 out of 78 designs were nominated. As the theme prescribes they all have to do with fairytales.

We see frogs, castles, dancing shoes, caleidoscopes, ponds, waterlillies, secret compartments, see troughs and wonderful craftmanship. Winner of the contest was Eva Theuerzeit of Brans Almelo BV. Theuerzeit’s ring features a highly detailed fantasy landscape surrounding an aquamarine pond.

Third runner up was Joeri Dijkman from Metal Art in Alkmaar. Joeri’s music ring is my personal favorite; a ring with a very industrial look to it that is part of a melody box. The ring is also the heart of the design because the positioning of the diamonds (up side down!) and the cabochon ruby defines the melody of the music box. Other materials used were black zirconium, steel, titanium and wood. The music box cost EUR 7000,- and up. The tune it plays was composed by harpist Klaartje Broers. Click below to see and hear Joeri demonstrate his ring!

Sex and the City 2: more, more, more…

Van Cleef & Arpels and Otazu jewellery on the big screen

Sex and the City 2 follows the ever famous Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte & Samantha as they this time jet off to Abu Dhabi. And guess what happened: while filming they had to flee to Morocco, since sheikh bin Zayed did not allow any further shooting of the scarcely dressed foursome. Scarcely dressed, though covered with interesting jewelry.

This fashion movie is definitely for fans. No gripping storyline, but fashion, product placement, vintage, new designer jewellery and: more fashion. For this movie SATC stylist Patricia Field choose to work together with the famous Argentinean jewelry designer Rodrigo Otazu. Otazu, who happens to be our former neighbour in Amsterdam is now a New York City based. He especially created costume jewelry for the actors. But off course all women of the world now are able to buy these earrings, bracelets and rings to experience their own 15 minutes of Sex and the City fame.

Exposure in Sex and the City 2 will do Otazu good, because we are convinced that he will be better understood in the US: the country that loves big and over the top, than he will ever be in Holland. Though for SATC2 Otazu created some great funky colorful costume jewellery that we would like to see on Dutch versions of Carrie & Samantha!

Polished and naïve Charlotte wears iconic vintage jewellery designed by Van Cleef & Arpels. Her Alhambra necklace is made of 18 carat white gold and mother of pearl. The Fleurette earrings are created with diamonds in 18 carat white gold.

The movie is interesting from the jewellery point of view.  Detailed style finishes off personality. We like the colors and styles shown in the movie. And as you see, every character in Sex and the City 2 is again accurately represented by the right jewellery. Like in real life we hope.

Make jewellery not war!

Bullet rings

Adi Zaffran Weisler (4th year student at Bezalel academy of art and design in Jerusalem) made rings from used bullets shells that he found at a firing range in Tel Aviv by putting the bullets on a simple copper shank. Zaffran tries to find beauty in the scary reality of shootings and war.

The Gun Reclamation Project

The Gun Reclamation Project inspired Ken Leung and Dana Chin of B-Side Jewelry to make jewels from parts of firearms (triggers, firing pins, recoil lugs) recast as symbols of nonviolence: “We believe that art in all forms can tell a story. Sculpture and in particular jewelry have long been vessels of showcasing wealth and social standing, our vision is to create work that is a vessel for a deeper form of expression. Our pieces and subject matters are intended to connect with viewers on an emotional level as well as an aesthetic one. We strive to tell a story of beauty with a message – conscious sculpture“. A portion of the proceeds from each sale help fund the New York City Gun Buy-Back Program. The jewels are made from parts of these returned guns. Does it get any better? Although pretty abstract, you have to be cool to wear broken guns like this.

Ted Noten’s Superbitch bag

The Superbitch Bag; a gun casted in acrylic with a snake skin handle by Ted Noten, The Netherlands’ greatest jewellery designer. Violence is never pretty, however this bag is beautiful and very safe.

Jean Deprès’ engine ring

Jean Deprès (1889–1980) made a lot of mechanical jewellery such as this silver ring from 1933. Deprès was one of the pioneers in Art Déco jewellery. Together with Jean Fouquet, Gérard Sandoz and Raymond Templier, his roots lie in the Haute Joaillerie, because his father had a jewellery shop, but they were all part of the aesthetic revolution in the twenties. During the First World War Deprès designed military airplane engines, which inspired his work and aesthetic a great deal. He became fascinated by the mechanical world and used the engine parts and gear in his designs; rods, nuts, outlines of crankshafts, the look and form of metal.  Machinery was transformed into beautiful industrial jewellery. It’s all about aesthetics.