A RARE ART DECO HARDSTONE AND DIAMOND DEVANT DE CORSAGE, BY BOUCHERON

Notice Regarding the Sale of Ivory and Tortoiseshe… Read more

Boucheron was the first jeweler to set up in the place Venome in 1893, but the firm's establishment predated its move to one of Paris' chic-est addresses by more than thirty years. Indeed, Frederic Boucheron (1830-1902) opened his first shop in Paris in 1858, and success quickly followed. Eventually his son, Louis (1874-1959) took over the running of the family business, and his sons Fred (1907-1973) and Gérard (1910-1996) continued the expansion of the firm through the twenty-first century. The "Devant de corsage" was the pinnacle of Boucheron Art Deco design. These brilliantly polychromatic pieces of jewelry were composed of flat geometric mosaics in lapis lazuli, onyx, jade, turquoise and coral, and surrounded by a narrow edging of diamonds. They were specially conceived and produced for the 1925 "Exposition des Arts décoratifs" by the designer Lucien Hirtz. Lucien Hirtz (1864-1928) tried his hands at everything at Boucheron, which he joined in 1893. He was a very gifted enameler who had previously worked with Falize. Hirtz's work first attracted great acclaim at the "Exposition Universelle" in 1900. But his fabulous Art Deco work, however, emerged later in the century, most dramatically in the pieces he made for the 1925 "Exposition des Arts decoratifs". The colossal "Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes," inaugurated in Paris on May 16th 1925, is considered to have been the baptism of the vast Art Deco movement. Hundred of participants displayed brand new creations, and their designs swept aside the evanescent Art Nouveau movement. The present bow is one of the pieces Hirtz specially made for Boucheron's exhibit at the 1925 Exposition. Its dazzling colors and geometric design make it a perfect representation of the Art Deco style. Hirtz's use of vivid, contrasting orange, turquoise, lapis blue and black can be seen as a direct influence from the "Ballets Russes". Sergei Diaghilev first brought his famous series of Ballets Russes to Paris in 1909 and continued through the 1920s to exhibit through his ballets his theories on the synthesis of the arts: combining music, dance and painting. To design sets and costumes, Diaghilev employed several painters, the most famous of which was Leon Bakst. Bakst became the star of the "Saison Russes," employing a whole spectrum of brilliant, rich, oriental colors deliberately juxtaposed with a boldness that set the teeth on edge. It was this enthusiasm for color in the costumes and the sets for the Ballets Russe that spread like a contagion from the stage to the picture galleries, fashion couture houses and the jewelry workshops--including that of Boucheron where Lucien Hirtz worked. After the show, this Boucheron brooch was sold to a European noblewoman for 34,00 French francs on May 27th, 1926. Today, the original drawing for the brooch, signed L.H. for Lucien Hirtz, still lies in the Boucheron archives in Paris.

Details

A RARE ART DECO HARDSTONE AND DIAMOND DEVANT DE CORSAGE, BY BOUCHERON
Of mosaic design, the sculpted onyx ribbon bow, decorated with fluted jade foliate motifs and carved coral accents, to the central carved lapis lazuli knot, with circular and single-cut diamond trim, mounted in 18k white gold, circa 1925, with French assay marks and maker's mark
Signed Boucheron, Paris
Desiged by Lucien Hirtz
Mounted by Bisson

Exhibited

Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, 1925

Special notice

Notice Regarding the Sale of Ivory and Tortoiseshell Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing ivory or tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Further details

Christie's would like to thank Monsieur Thierry Robert of Boucheron for his assistance in researching this piece

Lot Essay

Cf. Gilles Néret, "Boucheron: Four Generations of a World-Renowned Jeweler", Rizzoli, New York, 1988, page 90 and 91

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