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.

the Utrecht Museum of Musical Clocks presents Emperor Qianlong’s Singsongs: paste extravaganza

In Utrecht we have a unique museum: the Museum Speelklok (Museum of Musical Clocks). They house any kind of automatic  musical instrument, such as this monster of a carousel. Until 28 February a very special exhibition SingSong displays a selection of clocks representing the most important objects from the Qing dynasty. Leading European clockmakers, such as the master of the craft James Cox, produced many of these magical and mysteriously frivolous showpieces. They have never left China before.

Although they do contain proper clock movements, their main aim was not to tell the time but to amuse and impress, making them exclusive and expensive toys for prominent adults. The exotic designs went way beyond any imagination expressed in the European rococo and chinoiserie of the time. During the 18th century, the most spectacular and costly clocks were traded from the West to China. The clocks were much sought after by the Chinese emperors and were also highly desirable gifts.

Singsong

Some enchanting clocks played music every quarter of an hour, and the Chinese called this novelty ‘the clock that plays by itself’, or in Chinese: ‘zimingzhong’. This word was anglicised into ‘singsong’, the equivalent of the musical clock. Emperor Qianlong (1736-1796) accumulated a vast collection of these fascinating and imaginative clocks, which now form part of the collection of the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City (Beijing).  For three years Museum Speelklok and the Palace Museum have restored the imperial clocks together. The exhibition also gives a great insight in this complicated collaboration.

The Pagoda clock

This clock is one of a pair of identical, fire-gilded bronze pagoda clocks. The pagodas have five levels, with roofs decorated with bells, garlands and pastes: glass which has been cut into gem-like forms imitation gemstones. The paste decorations are completely over the top.  Each hour on the hour, music plays and the pagoda clocks open up telescopically (to a height of almost two metres!), only to fall back again to their original size during the hour that follows.

The Elephant & the Pavillion clock

Watch these clock play below.

Paste

Georges Frederic Strass (1701-1773) invented the much desired gem imitation in 1730 and due to the huge success of the invented technique was awarded with the title King’s Jeweler in 1743. The glass “gems” could be set in silver or gold and could have been foiled or unfoiled. The 18th century pastes demonstrated on the SingSongs were always foiled. Foiled pastes were usually seen in closed-backed settings where the foil provided added reflection and brilliance. Pastes were much easier cut and shaped than real gems, making this close-fitting pavé look achievable. You see every color imaginal, including opaline pastes that are similar to opals as in this brooch. Only two gems real are used; amethysts and  chrysolite.

Paste in the Singsongs

Paste jewels are still immensely popular, but I have never seen examples like this before! Pay attention to the bouquet on top of the Elephant clock  in the movie above. Just imagine these bouquets on your shoulder, or just a tiny one…

The Duchess of Windsor’s jewels, revisited

King Edward VII gave up the British Throne and country to marry the twice divorced American socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson in 1936, making them the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. After this the Duke lived for The Duchess of Windsor. He adored her and gave her jewels for every occasion in their life together. Most jewels are larger than life, according to Wallis’ friend Lady Mosley.

On 30 November 2010 Sotheby’s London will sell 20 jewels from the Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery collection. 23 years after the much celebrated Sotheby’s Geneva auction of her jewels in 1987.  This auction was a global event in prosperous times and the 214-piece collection fetched a record price of EUR 35 million, seven times the pre-sale estimate. Reflecting the 1987 rage today’s estimates  are also completely over the top but will surely be paid. The total sale is expected to bring in around EUR 3 million.

On sale now are jewels that memorialize the most important moments in Edward and Wallis’ relationship. Wallis was greatly admired for her avant-garde style in fashion and jewellery alike. She combined simplicity with whimsy.

Many of the jewels were made by Cartier, two specifically by Cartier’s jewellery director Jeanne Toussaint,  the Onyx and diamond panther bracelet designed in 1952, is one of the finest examples of the ‘great cats’ jewels of which the Duchess was an avid collector. The bracelet is expected to fetch 1,000,000-1,500,000 pounds . This articulated cat forms a “stalking pose” when closed around the wrist.

Jeanne Toussaint also created this exotic flamingo brooch, decorated with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, citrines, and diamonds which was bought by the Duchess in 1940. The flamingo brooch was bought for £498,000 in 1987 and is today estimated at £1m-£1.5m.

Another precious jewel is the diamond cross bracelet by Cartier, supporting nine gem-set Latin crosses, each marking significant events during the years 1934-44. The bracelet is expected to raise £350,000-450,000, while it fetched only £200.000 in 1987.

It is a very sweet; every cross has an inscription and a story to it, but not everyone believes Wallis & Edward were the greatest love story of the 20th century. For a different opinion please read here.

Sotheby’s David Bennett and historian Hugo Vickers, however, make a splendid presentation below.

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.

Read my pins, says Madeleine Albright

The Museum of Arts and Design in New York has made a very special exhibition on the US’ former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright’s diverse and notable collection of brooches. Through October 2010 you can see over 200 pins, many of which Secretary Albright wore to communicate a message during her diplomatic career, in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington.

Jewelry has always played a part in world affairs, expressing power, impressing people or forging alliances, but it was never used so eloquently as by Albright.

It all started when Madeleine Albright criticized Saddam Hussein in her role of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Saddam’s personal poet responded by calling her “an unparalleled serpent.” When deciding what to wear to their meeting, Albright chose to make a diplomatic statement by choosing a snake pin. Although her method of communication was new, her message was not. From that day forward, pins became part of Albright’s diplomatic signature.

Albright: Before long, and without intending it, I found that jewelry had become part of my personal diplomatic arsenal. Former president George H. W. Bush had been known for saying “Read my lips.” I began urging colleagues and reporters to “Read my pins.”

She has written her own catalogue to the exhibition, Read my pins, stories from a diplomat’s jewel. Her stories s behind her extensive pin collection, which includes flags, fruit, bugs, birds and almost everything else, are very amusing and humorous. Included are the antique eagle purchased to celebrate Albright’s appointment as secretary of state, the zebra pin she wore when meeting Nelson Mandela, and the Valentine’s Day heart forged by Albright’s five-year-old daughter.

This brooch, called Liberty, is made by Gijs Bakker for an earlier exhibition Brooching It Diplomatically; A Tribute to Madeleine Albright. The clocks are arranged so that Albright, looking down, as well as her visitor, looking up,  can both see when the time for their meeting is up.

Madeleine Albright talks about her pins

Birthstones, the legend

Gemstones have long been attributed mystical and magical powers in relation to religion and superstition. The notion that a certain gemstone is associated with a specific month, ‘birthstones’, derives from these early beliefs regarding one’s time of birth and its relationship to the planets.

Origin of birthstones

The tradition of birthstones originates from the Jewish astral depiction of gemstones. The high priest and brother of Moses, Aaron wore a breastplate that was covered with twelve gemstones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The stones also corresponded with the twelve signs of the zodiac and later the twelve months of the year. The Breastplate of Aaron is referred to in Exodus 28:17-20 and Revelation 21:19-20.

Indian planetary gems or Navaratna talisman

The belief in a cosmic universe where heaven and earth are connected also includes the supernatural powers of gems. Divine powers are everywhere from macrocosm through the physical elements such as mineral products. In India nine planets – all designated as celestial deities – watch over nine gems; Saturn is the planet for the blue Sapphire, the Moon’s ascending node for Hessonite garnet, the descending node for cat’s eye, Venus for the diamond, the Sun for the ruby, the Moon for the pearl, Jupiter for the topaz, Mercury for the emerald and Mars for the coral. Navaratna jewels (nava= nine; ratna = jewel) contain all nine gems in a specific order.

Gem symbolism

It is also believed every gem is endowed with different power and symbolism. The oldest crown of England, for example, which is on view in the Tower of London, contains the Black Prince’s Ruby and emphasizes the power of the wearer. This ruby is in fact a huge 170 carat spinel (rubies and spinels were only told apart from the late 19^th century when they discovered that spinel is a magnesium aluminum oxide, while ruby (corundum) is an aluminum oxide. )

Modern Birthstones

It is still a common belief that gems hold power and that wearing the gem associated with your birthday functions as a talisman and will bring good luck, health or power. This faith in working power of gems can even be seen as a tool to gain power in the world. In today’s world of danger, uncertainty and less religious belief people tend to reach out to other irrational or magical beliefs such as lapidaria (knowledge of stones).

Birthstone jewelry has become a poetic tradition for gift givers as this Art Déco Cartier catalogue illustrates. Please ignore the old prices!!

Who of you wears or is looking for his or her birthstone? For more extensive reading on birthstones read this Jewelers of America leaflet or our Cartier catalogue on birthstones.

Month	Gemstone	Alternative gemstones
January	Garnet	Garnet
February	Amethyst	Amethyst or hyacinth
March	Aquamarine or bloodstone	Jasper or bloodstone
April	Diamond	Diamond or sapphire
May	Emerald	Emerald or agate
June	Pearl, moonstone or alexandrite	Pearl, moonstone or alexandrite
July	Ruby	Turquoise or onyx
August	Peridot or sardonyx	Sardonyx
September	Sapphire	Peridot
October	Opal or tourmaline	Beryl or opal
November	Topaz or citrine	Topaz or pearl
December	Tanzanite, turquoise, zircon, lapis lazuli or blue topaz

The Marlborough Gems: formerly at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

The collection of about 800 engraved gems of the Fourth Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817) at Blenheim Palace was the largest and most important of the 18th-century English collections. It comprised a Renaissance collection of the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua, acquired by Lord Arundel in the mid-17th century; the mid-18th-century collection of Lord Bessborough; and the Duke’s own acquisitions. The Duke had to sell his collection after financial set backs in 1875. He sold it in its entirety to David Bromilow whose daughter sold the collection piece by piece at Christie’s in 1899, when it dispersed over the world.

Sir John Boardman (President of the Society of Jewellery Historians) has located the present whereabouts of almost a quarter of the collection. In his book The Marlborough Gems: formerly at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire (OUP 2009) , Boardman has put a great deal of detective work to piece together almost the complete collection. The appearance of less than one third is known from autopsy or mainly 18th-century drawings. However, the Beazley Archive in Oxford possesses impressions and electrotype copies of virtually every Marlborough gem as well as the cataloguer’s notebooks.

Not much has been written on the subject of cameo‘s and intaglio‘s before, and it is very difficult to judge if a gem is it ancient, renaissance or 18th century. For example this famous cameo representing some sort of initiation ceremony involving Cupid and Psyche can be 1st century AD or renaissance. One is not sure. It is however one of the most famous cameo’s from the collection, now in Boston.

Perhaps the Marlborough collection is also the greatest collection in the entire world, judge for yourself. You can search the Archive for the identified gems from the Marlborough collection here. And for gems that are still lost look here.

Boardman’s book shows a lot of illustrative material; from the Archive, from drawings and from autopsy, study, and photography, at least of the surviving identified pieces. Each gem is described and discussed, and, in the accompaying text, the evidence for the Mantua collecting and the sources for the later collections are explored, with emphasis on the way the collection illustrates the history of gem-collecting in England, and the English reception of classical iconography that was copied in the 18th century. The gems are presented in chapters relating to the collection from which they were acquired.

This heavy book is very important to the history of engraved gems.

The 4th Duke of Marlborough holding a cameo depicting Augustus by Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)

Yves Saint-Laurent, a retrospective at the Petit Palais in Paris

le coeur d'Yves Saint-Laurent

You have all summer to see YSL’s life work until 29 August 2010. The Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent and the Petit Palais (City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts) are showing an Yves Saint-Laurent retrospective exhibition.  On display are 307 haute couture and prêt-à-porter models, ranging from when Yves’s began in 1958 - at 21 he was already head of Christian Dior – to the splendour of the evening dresses from 2002.

Yves designed his heart brooch in 1958 for his first collection, but he continued to pin this brooch on his favorite dress in every new show.

Historical backgrounds of the designs and the development of the Yves Saint-Laurent style are explored. In 40 years Yves Saint-Laurent revolutionised women’s clothing, by using powerful attributes from one gender to the other; the male evening suit, trouser suit and safari suit.

Here is an introduction to the exhibition:

The Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent is financed by the proceeds of the ‘sale of the century‘ that took place February 2009 at Christie’s when Pierre Bergé decided to part with Yves’ and his’ vast and eclectic art collection after Yves’ death in 2008. From a jewellery perspective it included many beautiful and important cameo’s and this extraordinary boîte à portrait of Louis XIV by Petitot (1607-1691) and Le Tessier de Montmarsy, circa 1680.

Art & Love at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace

This major exhibition runs from 19 March to 31 October 2010. The exhibition focusses on the unique partnership of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their shared enthusiasm for art from the time of their engagement in 1839 to the Prince’s early death in 1861.

For Victoria and Albert, art was an important part of everyday life and a way they expressed their love for each other.  Around a third of the objects in the exhibition were exchanged as gifts between the couple to mark special occasions. They range from the simple, romantic and sentimental jewelry to superb jewels and other great art, such as an early Italian painting, including Bernardo Daddi’s The Marriage of the Virgin, given by the Queen to the Prince for his birthday in 1846.

The orange blossom jewelry

This is the fitted box and the original blossom brooch. This gold and porcelain blossom was one of the first gifts Prince Albert gave his fiancee. The box is inscribed “Sent to me by dear Albert from Wiesbaden Novr. 1839″. It has the form of a sprig of orange blossom which flower is traditionally associated with engagement. At the wedding the Queen wore sprays of real orange blossom in her hair and on her bodice. The Prince continued to give Victoria orange blossom jewelry, eventually creating a beautiful parure, parts of which she always wore on their wedding anniversary.



The ‘Tibur Ruby’ necklace was made for Queen Victoria by R. & S. Garrard & Co. in 1853

The Koh-i-nûr diamond, the most famous gem from the Lahore Treasury, came directly to Queen Victoria from India in 1850, other significant jewels remained with the East India Company for the Great Exhibition. In recognition of the Queen’s patronage of the Exhibition, the Directors of the Company presented her with a magnificent selection of stones, of which the ‘wonderful’ rubies ‘cabochons, unset, but pierced’ particularly struck her: ‘one is the largest in the world, therefore even more remarkable than the Koh-i-noor’. This, the so-called Timur Ruby, which weighs 352.5 carats, together with three smaller stones – all of which are actually spinels rather than rubies – were set by Garrards into a new necklace of Oriental inspiration in April 1853. In June of the same year the necklace was adapted so that the re-cut Koh-i-nûr could occasionally take the place of the Timur Ruby; and in 1858 three of the five pendant diamonds originally attached to the centre of the necklace were made detachable for alternative use, two as earrings and the central pendant (the Lahore Diamond) as the centre of the Coronation Necklace.

The history of the stone, with its illustrious provenance from the Mughal Emperors Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb and Farrukhsiyar, and the Persian rulers Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah, is partly recorded in inscriptions dating between 1612 and 1771 on the stone itself. The connection with the great Asian conqueror Timur (1336-1408), which arose from a misreading in the early twentieth century of one of the inscriptions, has recently been reconsidered, and it is now thought possible that Nadir Shah, who looted the stone from the imperial treasury in Delhi in February 1739, may have placed his inscription over an erased inscription proclaiming Timur’s ownership.

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…