A rare Louis XVI diamond ring

BIJOUX FRANCAIS French supremacy in the exquisite and sumptuous art of jewellery, so well illustrated by this sale, is not a new phenomenon, but rooted in European history. Thanks to the patronage of the luxury loving Dukes of Burgundy, the Parisian makers were already established as the undisputed masters of jewellery design and execution as early as the fifteenth century. In the next period, Queen Elizabeth made sure that her ambassador, Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, kept an eye on the shops, which, then as now, were one of the city's greatest attractions. She was not the only English woman to look to Paris for new and imaginative creations, for so many others did, that the puritanical Henry Peacham, in The Truth of our Times (1638) complained "we cannot invent them ourselves but when one is grown stale runne over to France to see a new making." It was the same during the reign of Louis XIV when the magnificence and elegance of French Baroque jewellery set the standard for the rest of Europe. Amidst the sparkle and novelty of Versailles even the very grand Roman Duchess of Bracciano felt so unhappy with her diamonds in their old settings that she had them remodelled by the court jeweller, Pierre de Montarsy. Then, during the eighteenth century, French jewellers, such as Augustin Duflos, succeeded in expressing the spirit of rococo and then of neo-classicism in the light and delicate ornaments associated with Madame de Pompadour and Queen Marie Antoinette. All who visited the court were impressed, and in 1775 after an evening at the Opera, the Earl of Malmesbury observed how "it was the show which the French ladies always make above those of other nations which added much to the spectacle - the ornaments of their headdresses and their robes so disposed and varied composed a beautiful tout ensemble." Women returning home from France were besieged by their friends, who when they saw their new clothes and jewels wanted the same for themselves. As a result, much prestige accrued to France, and Voltaire even declared that a show of splendour was the sure sign of good government, encouraging the rich to spend so as to give employment to the poor. This was Napoleon's view, and when he came to power in 1802 he set about restoring Paris as the centre of luxury and fashion lost during the years of anarchy which followed the revolution of 1789. The grandeur of the parures he commissioned for his Empresses reestablished the ascendancy of the Parisian jewellers, and, once regained, this lead was never relinquished. Full advantage was taken of the opportunities offered by the great World Fairs held at intervals from 1851, so that it was always the French who carried off the most prizes. Their jewels were just as securely set as those of their foreign rivals, but infinitely more graceful, exalting the stones and showing them to better advantage. French travellers abroad, such as Théophile Gautier were shocked to see how often diamonds worth millions looked like bits of glass, whereas in the hands of a Parisian master even the smallest gem sparkled with irresistible charm. During the nineteenth century this success was attributed to various causes. It was agreed that the French apprentices were better educated in art and architecture than their foreign counterparts, and that working conditions were better in Paris. Then, the men and women who directed the great houses were not only clever at business, but artists too, always inspiring their craftsmen to ever higher standards of perfection. What was extraordinary is that this vocation was hardly ever restricted to one generation only, but passed down, leading to the establishment of dynasties, heirs to the family savoir faire. They regarded themselves as the servants of women dedicated to making their appearance a work of art. It was a result of this dialogue with the tyrannical Parisienne that designs were never banal, always up-to-date yet subject to the rules of good taste. The continuing professionalism of the twentieth century French jeweller was brilliantly captured by the English designer, James Gardner in his autobiography, Elephants in the Attic (1983). Looking back fifty years to his apprenticeship at the age of 15, he described Jacques Cartier: "He lived for design. Design: beauty of form conceived for no other purpose but to decorate women's bodies and look expensive. Ideas came from his library of things that had gone before - Chinese carpets, Celtic bronze work, Japanese sword hilts, Arabesques. He would ask 'What is that you are doing Gardinier? Dis donc, that is not a C-u-r-v-e. See a curve has a purpose, it starts here - so - but you know all the time that it is progressing. It expresses, how you say, an intention.' He would open the glazed bookcase, bring down a leatherbound volume of Meubles Chinois, and open it at an illustration of a black lacquered table. I must observe how the legs terminated. They were not amputated with a saw, but shaped with three tight little curves which touched the floor lightly as if saying politely ... I am a table poised in my own space and time: alter one line and I will become just an assembly of bits like all those other assemblies of bits ... under his tuition I soon became so involved in the meaning of line that I had no time to worry about the meaning of life." Each of the pieces in this sale was made by a jeweller with a similar grasp of design. The earliest are the bracelets given to brides in the 1870's. One of them by Théodule Bourdier is composed of marriage symbols - Cupid's quiver, crowns of myrtle, garlands of roses, hymeneal torches - arranged in gold trophies mounted on jade plaques, (lot 13). Another, by Frédéric Boucheron, is inscribed in Latin translating MY OTHER SELF, enamelled in letters inspired by medieval calligraphy, (lot 12). These were for daytime wear, like the neo-Renaissance Mars and Venus cameo pendant which hung from a velvet ribbon at the neck, (lot 3). Evening occasions required diamonds such as the attractive fringe necklace, still in the original box stamped with the owner's coroneted cipher. It was made by Jules and Paul Bapst of 25 rue Faubourg St. Honoré, who, as members of a dynasty which had served Queen Marie-Antoinette, Queen Marie-Amélie and the Empress Eugènie continued to attract the great names of French society in the Third Republic, (lot 11). The crisis in the jewellery world which coincided with the World Fair of 1900 is evoked by the drawings of Rene Lalique (1860-1945), presiding genius of Art Nouveau. Some are in that idiom, independent of past tradition, but others are designs for the conventional diamond jewellery derived from the art of the eighteenth century, lots 30 and 31. The refinement of this "garland" style is illustrated by a diamond and pearl bracelet/collar mounted on black ribbon, and by a round openwork pendant hanging from a seed pearl sautoir. The contrast with the group of Art Deco pieces by Boucheron, lot 87, Cartier, lot 92, Fouquet, lot 63, the Hatot Collection and Mauboussin, lot 93, could hardly be more striking, yet the quality is just as good and the sense of luxury omnipresent. Although fated to remain hidden in the smart woman's handbag for most of the time, the beautifully made vanity and cigarette cases which are the glory of the Art Deco style can be regarded as the twentieth century counterpart of the eighteenth century tabatière. Faced with the catastrophic loss of business caused by the stock market crash of 1929 the Parisian jeweller knew that to survive he had to try harder. The decade of the 1930's is therefore remarkable for innovations. Cartier's rock crystal earclips seamed with diamonds, (lot 64), echoing the famous pair of bracelets in the same style sold to Gloria Swanson in 1930 introduce the use of this hardstone, to cut costs during those hard times. Suzanne Belperron's necklace with its soft shades of carved aquamarine and dark blue sapphires highlighted with white diamonds, (lot 75), is redolent of the charm that won this designer the custom of the two most important figures in the Paris world of fashion - Daisy Fellowes and Elsa Schiaparelli. Then there is the brilliance of Van Cleef and Arpels who were the first to update the vanity case into the minaudière, use the invisible setting so that the stones seemed to be mounted in one unbroken mass of colour, and lead the return to gold jewellery instead of platinum. The wide gold strap bracelet made by this firm illustrates the beehive motif it made its own, (lot 105). All this creativity came to a halt with the declaration of World War II in 1939, only to reemerge with vitality after 1945. The remarkable continuity of the French tradition was upheld by Mauboussin, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Chaumet, and Boucheron who were joined by two new names, M. Gerard, formerly of Van Cleef & Arpels and Pierre Sterlé. Their necklaces, earrings, clips, bracelets and solitaire rings set with stones cut to mathematical perfection were created to partner the haute couture dresses of Balenciaga, Dior and Givenchy. They were displayed at the many brilliant social events held in London, Paris and the fashionable holiday resorts during the thirty years of prosperity which came to an end with the oil crisis of 1973. Although the sellers are anonymous, the jewels reflect the taste of a representative figure such as Florence Gould, the famous hostess. Indeed, she owned a ruby version (sold Christie's New York, April 11 1984) of the magnificent sapphire and diamond Van Cleef and Arpels brooch, lot 141 and was also a client of Boucheron and M. Gerard. A millionairess many times over, she could afford the best, and for her, as for Queen Elizabeth I and so many others this could only be, MADE IN FRANCE. DIANA SCARISBRICK, author of CHAUMET: 200 YEARS OF FINE JEWELLERY is organising a Chaumet retrospective exhibition for the Musée Carnavalet, Paris March 25th-June 28th 1998 LA VIE PARISIENNE Paris in the 19th Century, a gaslit world of romantic crinolines by Worth, and jewellery of a glittering magnificence and proportion to set off the tightly corseted waist, the deep cleavage and the billowing festooned skirts of the time. Diamond necklaces in festoons, fringes and swags spread over powdered bosoms, elaborately wrought brooches of diamonds and pearls were pinned two and three at a time on lace corsages, to create the fashionably opulent look which whirled and waltzed around the ballrooms of the Second and Third Empires. VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Details

A rare Louis XVI diamond ring
The octagonal convex bezel set in the centre with a diamond cut in the form of a fleur-de-lis, set in a silver collet with purple glass ground and outer diamond border, mounted in silver and gold, circa 1790, finger size L

Sale room notice

Lot Essay

Cf. Gilles Néret, Boucheron: Four Generations of a World-Renowned Jeweler, Rizzoli (1988) p. 26 for other antique rings set with engraved diamonds

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