Bonhams
Los 215
HENRI PICQ: MULTI GEM-SET AND DIAMOND TUTTI FRUTTI DOUBLE-CLIP/BROOCH, CIRCA 1930Each openwork shield-shaped clip composed of twisting vines issuing from a central ogee motif, set throughout with brilliant, old brilliant, single and baguette-cut diamonds, leaf-shaped carved rubies and sapphires and fluted emerald beads studded with diamonds, with further black enamel detail, one clip with maker's mark HP, both clips with French assay marks, length 6.2cmFootnotes:Provenance: A Private Collection of 20th Century Jewels (Lots 206 - 216)This double-clip/brooch displays the maker's mark of Henri Picq (1861-1941) whose workshop was favoured by Cartier as their principal Parisian supplier for gem-set platinum jewellery between 1900-1918. The Henri Picq workshop was renowned for their high-quality platinum jewels and later produced many of Cartier's 'Tutti Frutti' creations. Cartier 'was said to use the best platinum in Paris. It was renowned for its white, shimmering surface, an alloy of which the Picq workshop was especially proud' (see Nadelhoffer, H., 'Cartier', Thames and Hudson, 1984, p.59).Cartier's Indian-inspired 'Tutti Frutti' jewels are some of the firm's most celebrated and recognisable designs. Cartier first began experimenting with Indian-inspired jewels as early as 1901 when the firm produced a necklace for Queen Alexandra. In 1911, Jacques Cartier first visited India for the Delhi Durbar, a two-week mass event celebrating the coronation of George V, a dazzling scene where the giving and receiving of jewels played an important role in the ceremony. This was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between Cartier and the East, resulting in numerous purchases of rare, historic Indian jewels in Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay. The ancestral carved gems that Jacques Cartier first brought back to Paris inspired the creative genius of Louis Cartier and their designer, Charles Jacqueau, who created light, airy platinum frames that were strong enough to hold them in a variety of geometric arrangements, producing a riot of colour. During the 1920s, Indian princes went to Cartier to have their family jewels and ancestral gems redesigned into modern European jewels. American and European clients simultaneously fell in love with Cartier's Indian-inspired creations that were rooted in antiquity while looking refreshingly modern, capturing the spirit and exuberance of the Jazz Age. The first 'Tutti Frutti' jewel to be shown publicly was a bracelet at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925 and the firm's 'Tutti Frutti' creations continued to flourish throughout the 1930s. During this next decade, Cartier began to move away from the austere geometry of the early Art Deco period towards more sinuous motifs with vibrant combinations of colour and texture.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
