Jewelry American Society of...

newsletter vol. 31, no. 1, spring/summer 2017

ewelryJAmerican Society of

historians

2 ASJH

A Letter from the President

Dear ASJH Member:

The jewelry world is populated with fascinating, compelling, and unforget-table individuals, many of whom have been industry mentors and leaders. It is with great sadness that we inform you of several deaths that have taken place recently: those of Liana Paredes, Kenneth Jay Lane, Daphne Farago, and Fred Leighton. Ms. Paredes was the chief curator and director of collections at Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens, the famed museum in Maryland founded by Marjorie Merriweather Post. She was a highly esteemed expert on French decorative arts and interiors and was both author and co author of numerous works on porcelain and collectibles, including Sevres Then And Now: Tradition in Porcelain 1750–2000 and A Taste for Splendor: Russian Imperial and European Treasures from the Hillwood Museum. After organizing and curating numerous decorative arts exhibits, she moved onto what was to become one of her favorite endeavors: researching and curating the magnificent exhibit of Marjorie Merriweather Post’s jewels, Spectacular Gems and Jewelry, on view at Hillwood until January of 2018. She was a historian and a lover of beautiful objects, with a deep under-standing of aesthetics and workmanship. Her intelligence and keen eye will be deeply missed. Kenneth Jay Lane is known as the designer who made a fortune “faking it,” and he exclaimed with glee “I myself am a fabulous fake!” From humble roots in Detroit, he moved to New York City in the mid 1950s, and worked for several prominent shoe designers. He launched his costume jewelry company in 1961 and was an immediate success, due to his creative eye and a mailing list of influential women. His dry sense of humor (he referred to his jewels as

Contents4 The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s8 Jeweled Splendors of the Art Deco Era: The Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection12 A Russian Jewelry Library14 Stellene Volandes on Jewels: Masters, Mavericks, and Visionaries of Modern Design19 A Signature Style: The Jewelry of Suzanne Belperron21 ASJH Elections23 Calendar

COVER: Necklace, 1929. Pro-duced by Van Cleef & Arpels (Paris, France). Platinum, carved rubies, diamonds; l. 41.3 cm. The Adrien Labi Collection. Photo: Siegelson, New York.

OPPOSITE: “Giraffe” Necklaces and Bracelets, ca. 1927. Designed by Jean Dunand (French, b. Switzerland, 1877–1942). Red and black lacquer, Oréum; necklaces: diam. 11.4–14.6 cm; bracelets: diam. 6–7 cm. Siegelson, New York.

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“junque,” perennially aware that the addition of a French accent makes many things more palatable) and his ineffable charm made him the escort of choice for many society women in the day. His roster of customers included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Babe Paley, Diana Vreeland, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, and Nancy Reagan, all of whom wore his fakes with pride. From his duplex Park Avenue apartment to his stints on QVC to sell his wares, he was down to earth, engaging, and a memo-rable individual. He was perhaps the first American jewelry designer to make it chic to wear costume instead of real jewelry, and his daring and self-confidence will be deeply missed. Daphne Farago was one of the great contem-porary craft collectors and patrons. With her husband Peter, she honed a discerning eye and further developed an instinctive taste for unconventional art. She was an early and avid benefactor for then-unknown artists including Dale Chihuly, Sam Malouf, Claus Bury, and Louis Mueller, and she was named one of the top 100 art collectors in the world by Art News Magazine. The MFA Boston was the grateful recipient of 161 works from her collection, the museum’s larg-est ever gift of contemporary craft across a range of media. Her unhesitant eye and cool elegance will be deeply missed. Fred Leighton (born Murray Mondschein) began his career down in Green-wich Village in the 1960s, selling Mexican wedding dresses, silver jewelry and accessories. Although he wasn’t born into the business, his keen eye and sheer love of beautiful jewels fueled his rise through the tempestuous 1970s and 1980s, when he built a name for himself at his elegant salon on Madison Avenue. In a time without Internet or cell phone availability to research prices, it took guts and indominable will to buy big things, and buy he did. No country was too far flung to visit, no piece too small or large if he loved it—it went into the store. Visiting revealed a cave of riches. Every period, every style, every sort of stone was proudly displayed, and he deeply enjoyed interacting with customers. I do not recall a jew-elry show in recent years where he wasn’t flitting around in a go-kart, dispensing wisdom and jokes and the occasional jewel casually pulled out from a pocket to share the beauty. He was larger than life, and an inspiration to anyone born out-side the industry but with a passion for entering. He was without artifice, fiercely clever, an amazing salesman, and a huge lover of life, I knew him personally, and he will be deeply missed by all of us.

My best to all,

Diana [email protected]

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Museum Exhibition

The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s

By Sarah D. Coffin

The term The Jazz Age was coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald during the 1920s to sum up the era. It reflects the impact of jazz both musically and metaphorically during this innovative and exciting period. Jazz offered a new beat and innovation. The American export swept Europe, especially France, where nightclubs took ad-vantage of recently invented neon light to advertise themselves. New fashions and accessories displayed lavish consumer appeal along with design that took its cues from Cubism and other artistic movements headquartered in Paris. Radio broad-casts, first heard in 1920, added to the popularity of the music and the era. The connection of the world of new jewelry forms (such as the sautoir) and accesso-ries (such as a cigarette box or vanity case) with new social mores is seen in Bending the Rules, one of the six themes in this exhibition. It also expresses the very strong connection between the creators of Paris haute joiallerie, and Americans. American women were making more of the choices themselves in both fashion and jewelry worlds, and, after World War I, Paris soon resumed its role as the capital of the art and fashion world, while Germany and Austria suffered the consequences of loss economically. In an era where seduction was expressed in much of style, and new perfumes—such as Shalimar-introduced by Guerlain at the 1925 Paris Expo-sition Internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes—brought out the sense of the exotic, these themes also influenced paintings and sculpture and were also found in textiles, wallpapers, furniture, glass, and ceramics, as well as jewelry and fashion. Many of the American creators of these products, including jewelry,

ABOVE: Scarab Belt Buckle, 1926. Produced by Cartier (Paris, France). Owned by Linda (Mrs. Cole) Porter. Gold, platinum, Egyptian blue faience, diamonds, sapphires, enamel; 3.8 x 12.8 x 2.1 cm. Cartier Collection, Inv. CL 341 A26. Photo: Marian Gerard, Cartier Collection © Cartier.

BELOW: Bracelet, 1925–30. Produced by Tiffany & Co. (New York, New York, USA). Platinum, diamonds, sapphires; 18.5 x 2.8 x 0.3 cm. Tiffany and Company, Archives, A2004.17. © Tiffany and Company 2017


brought training from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, and Rus-sia, often via Paris, to the United States, that improved the inter-connectedness of all the design arts here, through their skills and knowledge of new designs. All these design forms are connected in the other exhibition themes. In The New Look for Familiar Forms, a Tiffany bracelet made in France includes in a fairly traditional structure, rectangular sapphires in geometric forms, and the diamonds are set with a small onyx outline of a bird, all suggesting at a distance that color and geometry updated, in a subtle way, the traditional bracelet form. In A Smaller World, the impact of the Paris 1925 Exposition and of major jewelers and fashion houses on American taste can be seen in a Cartier Scarab Buckle purchased by Linda Porter in Paris in 1925 as well as in a brooch by Dagobert Peche, of 1924, that was acquired from the Wiener Werkstätte by the Metropolitan Museum in the year it was made. Abstraction and Re-invention demonstrates the bold new energies of abstract art, and geometric forms, such as the deceptively simple sphere neck-laces by Jean Després or a Tiffany Skyscraper necklace that replicates the set-back forms of the New York City skyscrapers whose shapes also became part of desks, chairs, ceramic vases and silver tea sets. In Towards a Machine Age, the Bauhaus forms and more industrial materials take a prime position as the Depression starts. Few jewelry pieces exemplify this trend, although designs by Raymond Templier could be considered abstractions of a car radiator grille, but the fascination with the airplane can be seen in Cartier’s celebration of Lindbergh’s solo and other later flights with diamond brooches in the form of airplanes.

ABOVE LEFT: Necklace, c. 1930. Designed by Jean Després (French, 1889–1980). Hammered silver, blood jasper; l. 64.8 cm. Siegelson, New York.

ABOVE RIGHT: Necklace, 1930–35. Produced by Tiffany & Co. (New York, New York, USA). Platinum, diamonds; 19 x 14cm. Tiffany and Company, Ar-chives, A2000.20. © Tiffany and Company 2017.

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In Bending the Rules, which hosts the most jewelry, the underlying design story was the change in lifestyle that influenced jewelry fashions, as exemplified in Jean Dunand’s enameled “Giraffe” necklaces and bracelets. This model was popular-ized by African American Josephine Baker, whose rise to stardom happened after she moved to France in 1925. The French felt the beats of Jazz to be connected to the exoticism they found in African art, and Baker united jass, exoticism, and jewelry. Bending the Rules shows how color and new cuts play a major role, leading to much bolder statements. The newly fashionable improved brilliant cut, the marquise, baguette and emerald cuts all emanated from the 1920s, and can be seen in both American and European jewelry. A bracelet retailed by J. E. Caldwell and possibly manufactured by Oscar Heyman shows some of these new cuts while a stunning carved ruby necklace sold to an American during the time when Van Cleef & Arpels had their first shop in New York in 1929–1930, epitomizes strong use of color and the use of Indian-carved Burmese rubies spoke to exoti-cism and the bold new colors women were wearing. Along with shorter dresses, longer necklaces, known as sautoirs, could swing with the body when dancing. Subtle geometries and the mixing of diamonds and quartz give a new look to a sautoir by Chaumet while another example is a bold statement in color; one of the most truly extraordinary, with a carved emerald pendant, was purchased for Lillian Timken from Cartier in Paris in 1925 by her industrialist husband. The Jazz Age shows that American patronage and creativity were key to design from around the globe in the 1920s and that much of what was innovative in jewelry design was acquired by a sophisticated American clientele that impacted

TOP: Brooch, c. 1935. Produced by Templier (Paris, France). Dia-monds, platinum; 5 x 4.8 x 1 cm. Neil Lane Collection. Photo: Gary Kirchenbauer.

ABOVE: Sautoir, c. 1920s. Produced by Chaumet (Paris, France). Diamonds, platinum, carved rock crystal; l. 33 cm. Neil Lane Collection. Photo: Gary Kirchenbauer.

RIGHT: Pair of Airplane Brooches, 1930s. Produced by Cartier (Par-is, France). Diamonds, platinum; l. 3.3–4 cm. Neil Lane Collection. Photo: Gary Kirchenbauer.


creations from the major houses and led the way in the American acceptance of the modern design. The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s exhibition (Cooper Hewitt, Smithson-ian Design Museum April 7–August 20, 2017 and Cleveland Museum of Art, September 29, 2017–January 14, 2018) was co-organized by the two museums with their curators, Sarah D. Coffin, at Cooper Hewitt, and Stephen Harrison at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

ABOVE: Bracelet, 1925–30. Re-tailed by J. E. Caldwell & Com-

pany (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA). Diamonds, platinum; 18.4 x

2.1 cm. Newark Museum, Pur-chase 2008 Friends of the Deco-

rative Arts and the Mr. and Mrs. William V. Griffin Fund, 2008.10.

LEFT: Timken Pendant Necklace, 1925. Produced by Cartier (Paris,

France). Owned by Lillian S. Timken. Platinum, emeralds, sap-phires, diamonds; necklace: l. 41.9 cm; pendant: 4.4 x 3.8 cm. Pierre

Chen, Taiwan. Photo: Siegelson, New York.

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Book Review

Jeweled Splendors of the Art Deco Era: The Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection

Foreword by Princess Catherine Aga Khan Introduction by Pierre Rainero,Essays by Evelyne Possémé, Stephen Harrison, Sarah D. CoffinCatalogue Texts and Afterword by Sarah DavisThames & Hudson, 2017256 pages, 200+ color photos, $75, hardcover

By Ettagale Blauer

Though offered as an exhibition catalogue, Jeweled Splen-dors of the Art Deco Era is a sumptuous coffee table book that lavishly and lovingly presents The Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection, 116 pieces of the finest examples of Art Deco objects and jewels ever made. The collection, on view at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum through August 27, was amassed over the married lifetime of the Prince and Princess.

The elegant, oversize volume includes an introduction by Pierre Rainero, Im-age, Style and Heritage Director of Cartier, as well as essays by Evelyne Possémé, Chief Curator at Museé des Art décoratifs, Paris; Stephen Harrison, Curator of Decorative Art and Design, Cleveland Museum of Art; and Sarah D. Coffin, Curator, Product Design and Decorative Arts, Cooper Hewitt. The catalogue de-scriptions and afterword are by Sarah Davis, jewelry history specialist and editor for the American Society of Jewelry Historians. All the works were newly photo-graphed by Doug Rosa. Connoisseurs of Art Deco will want to have this book in their library. Many objects are shown both front and back, and in the case of cigarette cases and vanity cases, they are occasionally shown open and closed, a true record of how

ABOVE: Cover featuring the Pan-ther Vanity Case by Cartier, Paris, 1925. 4 1/8 x 1 3/4 x 11/16 inches

RIGHT: Koi and Dragon Compact by Cartier, Paris, circa 1930. 2 7/8 x 2 ¾ x 15/16 inches


these astonishing examples of the craftsmen’s art were meant to be used. Original drawings in color, as well as some contemporary photographs of family members, are also included. The effect is to allow the reader a step back into the breathtak-ing elegance of the Art Deco era. Art Deco objects, mainly by Cartier with a strong representation from Van Cleef & Arpels and a handful from Boucheron, Lacloche Frères and others, en-compass the timely meeting and merger of two worlds, two hemispheres, and two aesthetics. The artistic brilliance and commercial savvy of the Cartier brothers blossomed at precisely the moment that a public taste for the exotic was nurtured. The objects represent the tangible result of cross-cultural influences and the keen collecting eye of the prince. Buying objects and jewels made within a narrow and well-defined time period gives this collection, and the book, a wonderful coher-ence. Jewelry generally reflects the era in which it is made, particularly when new materials become available or new techniques are developed, and both are true of Art Deco. But more than materials, these jeweled works of art are the tangible result of the meeting of cultures. The book is a roadmap to the way the design motifs and ideas of the East were interpreted by the jewelers and artisans of the West. Each page reveals, in visual language, how the emphasis on geometric designs from the Muslim and Arab worlds was translated and applied to such objects as cigarette cases and vanity cases, as well as the remarkable Cartier clocks. This collection was also a collaboration between jeweler and client and in this instance, the French firms had a remarkably sympathetic and well-heeled client in Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. The Prince’s family had a relationship with Cartier that dated at least to 1902. His family was remarkably bicultural. The Prince was born in Paris of Iranian heritage, although he never lived in Iran. He trav-eled widely in the Islamic countries and often visited Egypt where he gained an

TOP: Cypress Tree Vanity Case by Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris, 1928, Manufactured by Alfred Langlois.

3 3/8 x 2 x 7/16 inches

ABOVE: Lac Burgauté Vanity Case by Cartier, Paris, circa 1928, Manufactured by

Auguste Peyroula. 2 7/16 x 1 3/4 x 11/16 inches

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appreciation of Islamic design. This coincided with the era when the West was entranced by the opening of the Tomb of Tutankhamen, a discovery that, again, rocked the artistic understanding of the Middle East. The Prince began this collection of Art Deco with the first gift to his new wife, Catherine, a jeweled box by Cartier. From there, she says in a preface to the book, “Any occasion was an opportunity for him to present me with a new piece for the collection. I imagine him viewing them all, admiring them, and picking them out just for me.” Before the Art Deco era, after centuries of isolation, the “discovery” of the exquisite artwork and crafts of the East brought a tsunami of ideas to Western makers. Some pieces, such as the box by Cartier incorporate a plaque made in Japan and simply set into a new frame. Similarly, a carved jadeite disk forms the lid of a compact by Cartier. Most, however, were reinterpreted by the makers as can be seen throughout this volume. The book includes a brisk history of the dynamic meeting of East and West cultures. According to Evelyne Possémé, the encounters began with Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. She races through the travels of various explor-ers and tradesmen who were part of the incredible fabric of these encounters, weaving contrasting and previously unknown crafts and materials. One highlight is the mention of Johan Nieuhof, a Dutchman who in 1665 produced a book illustrated with 100 prints depicting the court of the Manchu emperor. This opened many eyes to the beauty and originality of Chinese art and design. The essay also encompasses Islamic decorative art, a crucial influence on the designs of the Art Deco designers. Her essay gives the reader a taste of the many influences coursing through the centuries, leading to the works shown. It should encourage further reading on the part of anyone seriously interested in understanding how the historic separation of cultures allowed and encouraged remarkable diversity of design. When East and West met, it was an artistic thunderbolt. The essay by Stephen Harrison puts the pieces into the context of the historic time in which they were made. For anyone living in today’s “no smoking please” era, the prevalence of smoking accessories may seem odd, even counter-intuitive. His explanation of the tobacco industry’s efforts to reach out to potential, so-phisticated customers is intriguing and helps to explain why the great makers of the day devoted so much time and treasure to objects mean to enhance the smok-

Box by Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris, 1928, Manufactured by Strauss, Allard & Meye. 2 3⁄8 x 3 x 5⁄8 inches


ing experience. Harrison also discusses the important meeting of East and West and the influence of India as a source of gemstones as well as the importance of Islamic and Asian aesthetics in early 20th century design. Sarah Coffin’s essay discusses the role of the manufacturers of the period, de-tailing, for example, the plaques made by the Russian jeweler Vladimir Makovsky. His designs and craftsmanship were crucial elements in some of Cartier’s most elaborate boxes. Coffin also shows the evolution of the use of color in the vanity cases and other objects created by Van Cleef & Arpels during the Art Deco era. Examples of the stock cards made for each piece such as a box, by Van Cleef & Arpels, take the reader back to the workshops that gave us these exquisite objects. Complementing each essay are the detailed catalogue descriptions of each of the 116 pieces in the collection. Sarah Davis brings all the pertinent information together in mini-essays that describe each piece, its manufacture as well as size and materials. It is no small chore to compress so much information into relative-ly few words. The cataloguing is dispersed into three sections of the book. The book concludes with Davis’s Afterword on the Origin of the Collection. Happily, for anyone who wants to see and appreciate the work in person, it is currently on exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. Given the generous page size and format of the book, it is extremely dismay-ing that the typeface is both small and pale in the general text, and nearly illegible in the meticulously detailed catalogue entries. The index is nearly useless as it is set in even smaller, pale type. One should not be forced, like this reviewer, to read some of the text with a magnifying glass. This book is far more than just a pretty collection of well-photographed pieces. The descriptions deserve to be read, and studied.

Imperial Guardian Lion Mystery Clock by Maurice Couet for

Cartier, Paris, 1929

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Books

A Russian Jewelry Library

Jewelry collectors and dealers adore trading information about their books, and people often ask: “If you had to recommend a book, which would you suggest?” This question—and the answers—will be the subject of a series of articles by ASJH board members on their favorite books for various aspects of jewelry his-tory. We welcome your additions and suggestions to our lists.

By Mark Schaffer of A La Vieille Russie

The subject of Russian jewelry immediately conjures the work of Court Jeweler Carl Fabergé (1846–1920), but the creation of jewelry and jeweled objects began well before the era of the last two Tsars of Imperial Russia, when Fabergé was most active. My own family firm, A La Vieille Russie, dates back to 1851 in Kiev, where we sold antiques and jewelry until our move to Paris at the time of the Revolution. We ultimately moved to New York between the two World Wars, and our first of several New York City locations was as a first tenant of Rockefeller Center. We continue to specialize in Russian, European, and American jewelry, with a longtime concentration on Fabergé. Whether we’re trying to understand a rare early piece, researching the origins of a later piece, or just studying, the major Russian museum collections are a great place to begin, such as the Kremlin Museums or Hermitage Museum. Ex-tant Russian jewelry from the 18th century, the early post-Peter the Great years, is quite rare, so such reference collections are often the only place to go. For ex-ample, we might look at Gold of the Tsars: 100 Masterpieces of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg (Arnoldsche 1995), or Jewels of the Romanovs: Family and Court (Stefano Papi, Thames and Hudson, 2010). Prince Michael of Greece authored a lovely survey of the subject in 2006, Jewels of the Tsars: The Romanovs and Imperial Russia (Vendome Press). Especially important are the Russian Crown jewels, which can be studied in The Regalia of the Russian Empire (I. Polynina and N. Rakhmanov, Red Square, 1994). For context, we also look at A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe, by Lord Twining (B.T. Batsford, 1960). For a broader view of Russian jewelry, I always like to peruse the impeccably researched 2012 book by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm Jewels from Imperial St. Peters-burg (Liki Rossii, 2012). And her definitive book The Russian Imperial Award System: 1894-1917 (Vammalan Kirjapaino Oy, 2005) is helpful in understanding the reasons much of Russian jewelry exists in the first place. But of course Fabergé and his contemporaries do get the lion’s share of at-tention at present. Whenever a new piece arrives, we spend a lot of time flipping through collection and exhibition catalogues, often the best way to understand the work. One of the earlier major museum exhibitions of the post-Soviet age was Fabergé: Imperial Jeweler (G. Von Habsburg and M. Lopato, Abrams, 1993), and many pieces from Russian and worldwide collections are featured in the catalogue.


A La Vieille Russie’s own 1983 Fabergé catalogue remains a great resource, with lots of examples from all genres of Fabergé’s work. Some of the finest collections are in fact right here in the United States. The 1996 exhibition catalogue Fabergé in America (Thames and Hudson, 1996) covered the major American collections at that time. In 2011, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond re-published its great collection, with Fabergé Revealed by Geza von Habsburg, providing an over-view of Fabergé. At the heart of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Artistic Luxury catalog is its own wonderful Fabergé collection, which is there placed in the context of Tiffany and Lalique (S. Harrison, E. Ducamp, J. Falino, 2008). The Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C., Marjorie Merriweather Post’s collection, features all manner of Russian decorative arts in addition to Fabergé, and has produced various specialized catalogues, for example A Taste for Splendor (A. Odom and L. Arend, Art Services International, 1998). For years, New York boasted the Forbes Magazine Collection; much of that now forms the core of the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg, from which a new catalogue is expected soon. Con-temporaries of Fabergé are shown in many of these exhibition catalogues as well, such as the work of Bolin, Hahn, and others. Outside of the U.S. and Russia, probably the most important Fabergé collection is that of the Royal Collection in Great Britain, and Caroline de Guitaut has edited fine catalogues, such as Fabergé in the Royal Collection (Royal Collection Enterprises, 2003). Particularly interesting and useful for research are exhibition catalogues based on archival material, and dealers Wartski and A La Vieille Russie have both pub-lished important works, the former, Fabergé: Lost and Found (A.K. Snowman, Abrams 1993), and the latter, Golden Years of Fabergé: Drawings and Objects from the Wigström Workshop (A La Vieille Russie, 2000) - focused on chief workmaster Henrik Wig-ström, both amply illustrated with original workshop designs and drawings. Collections continue to be formed, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science is fortunate to exhibit one of the U.S.’s newest great collections: 2013 saw the publication of From a Snowflake to an Iceberg: The McFerrin Collection (The McFerrin Foundation), and in 2017, Fabergé: The McFerrin Collection: The Opulence Continues (D. McFerrin, J. McFerrin-Bohner, Rizzoli). A broad range of Fabergé and other Russian jewelry and jeweled objects, much now on view in Houston, can be explored.

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Interview

Stellene Volandes on Jewels: Masters, Mavericks, and Visionaries of Modern Design

By Diana Singer

Jewelry books fall into two categories. The first group is filled with fascinating and useful information about the subject at hand, replete with carefully researched details and wonderful photos. These books primarily focus on one subject, be it a single house, time period, body part, country, or theme, and all the information one could want will be found within those particular covers. The other category is that of a book written from the heart: for the pure and abundant pleasure to be derived from understanding why a jewel makes one’s heart leap upon seeing it. When I first held Stellene Volandes’s book in my hands and opened the cover, I knew it fell within this category. Although sticklers for historical detail and extensive footnoting might prefer the former, there is a definite place in our world for both genres. Consider the title: Masters, Mavericks, and Visionaries of Modern Design. These are jewelers chosen by Volandes for their innovative concepts plus their consistent style, and indeed she states in her introduction “I wrote this book to . . . intro-duce to an audience wider that the one that attends gem shows or editor appoint-ments, a group of jewelers working today on what I believe are the collectibles of tomorrow.” From the rich navy blue cloth cover emblazoned with gold lettering on to the bright magenta endpapers within, I must admit I knew I was in for a treat. The book is divided into seventeen chapters, with text discussing a rudimenta-ry history of each jeweler plus oversized photos and text. Many of these chapters mention charming personal details that help the reader see the jeweler as a human being and not just as a dynamic businessman/woman: Nicholas Varney raises chickens, and James de Givenchy stubbornly keeps a stone in his safe for decades awaiting the moment when both he and the stone are ready, while Muriel Grateau chooses to clothe herself only in black. The chapters are relatively short, but in the text Volandes manages to transmit what motivates, inspires, and delights these designers directly to the reader. As to the oversized photos—and believe me, some of the images are huge, encompassing most of the page—I felt it worked well for the point the author is trying to make. These jewels are luxurious and voluptuous and highly unusual; they would command a gasp of admiration when seen in person, and I appreciat-ed being able to do so two dimensionally. In addition, the oversized images make it easier to see the respective jeweler’s attention to detail, to better understand scale and workmanship. I loved this book, both for its heart and its opulence, and I would unhesi-tatingly recommend it as an addition to a jewelry library. Reading this book prompted me to reach out to Stellene Volandes for an ASJH interview, which she graciously agreed to. (Rizzoli, $85 hardcover)

Hemmerle. Tassel earrings; dia-monds, natural pearls,white gold.


Diana Singer: Talk to us about the cover of the book. When I first saw the choice of a navy cover with a hot pink interior, I thought of Diana Vreeland’s comment: “Pink is the navy blue of India.” Can you tell us why you chose those colors?

Stelle Volandes: I wanted the cover to feel very engaging and serious—to make it clear that the book was beauti-ful, and should be read. I felt that the navy cover would give it a calm serious-ness, and the pink was very much about jewels themselves.

The interior design of the book—the initiums (oversize text of first letters), the large jewelry photos, the quotes at the beginning of the chap-ters—please tell us how it all happened.

The team that designed the book were not jewelry people, but they all con-verted to the jewelry religion! They researched every jeweler and what was specifically important to that jeweler and what his/her aesthetic was. We wanted the design of the book to be a jewel in itself; while it’s bold and beautiful, it’s very clean and lets the jewelry speak. Jewelers themselves have wonderful photographs, and the ones we used were supplied by the jewelers themselves. As to the oversize images, I wanted readers to see the detail of the work. A lot of the jewelers use unusual materials, and I wanted the readers to see that as well. I myself chose all the text, including the quotes.

Please discuss a bit your own artistic contribu-tion to the book.

When Rizzoli approached me to do the book, they very much wanted it to be on contemporary jewelers, jewelers alive and working today; jewelers who were perhaps not widely known, but who worked in a traditional, artistic way. The world of contemporary jewel-ers is packed with talent, and the list is

long; so many jewelers still working at the bench, picking their own materi-als. It’s still a very intimate art and we narrowed down my original list to the 17 jewelers you see in the book. It’s not necessarily a list of my ultimate favor-ites; it’s people that create an aesthetic that is their signature, those who have been brave enough to maintain that signature despite market pressures. I wanted people to understand how jew-elry is reflective of the culture in which it is made - it’s not just pieces packed behind a vitrine. It’s also an art that you wear, and intensely personal. The essays that accompany each chapter are very much about my own personal journey into jewelry, and understand-ing jewelry first as beautiful objects and then to a deeper understanding of what it means.

Who are some of the people who’ve taught and influenced you over the years?

What I want people to understand is that the jewelry world is a very wel-coming community. Artists, historians, scholars, jewelers, they all want jewelry to be seen as an art form. There’s his-tory, stories, and mythology behind it; also, what year was it made, what was the political climate in that year, what materials were and were not available in that time frame? You learn from all these things. The jewelry world has al-ways been viewed as this closed, rarified market for the very rich; it’s actually a very open community, and when they see that you want to learn, they are the most willing of teachers. All the jewel-ers in the book have been teachers to me, and I’ve known many of them for more than 20 years. It’s all part of the learning process.

What common denominators link your choices of jewelers in the book?

The primary thread that runs through

TOP” Stellene Volandes

ABOVE: Suzanne Syz. Adrenaline cufflinks; enamel, gold,

and silver.

16 ASJH

the book is courage. To trust their own imagination and instincts, to trust “what the stone knows” - this ran through every chapter. Respecting and believing in the qualities of the mate-rial and stones and letting them tell you where to go, that is key. Also, when I say “courage,” I mean defining your own aesthetic and staying true to it. What links these artists is that you can see one of their pieces and, without anyone telling you, you know it’s theirs. As Suzanne Belperron famously said, “My style is my signature.”

What comes first, the purchase of the stone or the design of the jewel?

It varies, but what’s most fascinating to me is their understanding of the luxury of time. James de Givenchy talked to me about a citrine he’s had in his safe for twenty years and it hasn’t spoken to him yet. Nicholas Varney, too, has stones just sitting there waiting to be set when the time is right. I’m remind-ed of a quote by Ezra Pound: “The stone knows the form.” All the jewelers with whom I spoke perked up when I

mentioned that quote.

Is there a particular time period of style that you personally gravitate to? If so, why?

I personally like big and bold, so I would say 70s. I love yellow gold, so I’m definitely a 70s person.

If you could talk to a jeweler who’s no longer with us, who would it be and what would you ask?

I think the one jeweler every editor or jeweler would want to speak to is Suzanne Belperron. Her courage, her vision about what jewelry could be and what materials could be used to make it, it’s extraordinary, and when I go up to the Belperron atelier these days, you look at the jewels and you just cannot believe her daring. The decision to not sign her pieces is so fierce.

Signed vs unsigned: any comments? How does one establish a personal collection?

I wear big jewelry every single day. Some is signed and some is not. I

ABOVE RIGHT: Marie-Hélène de Taillac. Wave Rainbow necklace; tourmalines, aquamarines.

ABOVE: Muriel Grateau. Black-and-Red ring; black onyx and coral.


do think that for some people, when investing in jewelry, investing in signed pieces is key when establishing a col-lection; there’s just no getting around that. Budget is key, and there are “holy grails” in jewelry, to be sure. If the sky’s the limit, certainly a Cartier fruit basket or a chimera bangle. I think the key is to understand what jewelry you’re going to wear because I believe a jewelry collection kept in a safe does no one any good. If you’re the type who will wear a Verdura Maltese cross hardstone bangle every day, then that’s a great place to start. If you’d wear a pair of yellow gold Elsa Peretti mesh earrings every day, then that’s also a great start. I’d first seek out the famous houses and the designers that best express your own personal taste.

What do you personally wear every day, and why?

I wear something Lalaounis every day. That’s where my collection began, so it’s almost like a talisman for me. I almost always have something from Sidney Garber on. Brooke Garber Nei-

dich is someone I greatly admire, and I wear her rolling bracelets 24/7. In the morning, I think first about the jewelry I want to wear, and then the clothing revolves around that.

What do you want readers to take away from your book?

A big trend I see these days, and one that makes me so happy, is understand-ing and appreciating jewelry. High-lighting the people that design and make it, seeing it as an art form unto itself, this is wonderful. I want readers to realize is that you never have to own or wear an expensive piece of jewelry to love jewelry. In the same way they’d go into a museum and walk around and fall in love with a Picasso, all the while knowing they’ll never own one; I want them to experience jewelry in the same way. Jewelry is there for everyone. I’ve always seen it as its own art and its own world; that’s what’s always set my journalistic coverage of jewelry apart. Jewelry is its own universe, and should be treated as such.

ABOVE LEFT: Luz Camino. Sweetgum Leaf brooch; enamel,

sapphire, and gold.

ABOVE: Lauren Adriana. Jewel Box ring; aquamarine, tourma-

lines, spinel, and diamonds.

18 ASJH

ASJH Event

A Signature Style: The Jewelry of Suzanne Belperron

A lecture by Ward Landrigan to the ASJH April 27, 2017.

By Ward Landrigan, Chariman & CEO Verdura

Elegant and audacious, Suzanne Belperron pioneered a new aesthetic in jewelry in the 1930s and 1940s that was sensual, organic and bold. Belperron drew inspiration from nature—starfish, shells, butterflies, leaves, flowers and fruit—but she sought their essence and intellectualized and abstracted their forms. She was inspired in equal measure by a range of cultures, including paisleys of the Orient, Mayan ornaments, and tribal designs from Africa. With these inspirations in mind, Belperron forged a new look hailed by the fashion press as both “brilliant” and “barbar-ic.” A master jeweler, she continues to be a major influence on designers today.

Despite her discovery by the cognoscenti of style, her celebration by the fashion press, and her profound influence over twentieth-century jewelry design-ers, her name is little known today outside of jewelry circles. When the Duch-ess of Windsor’s jewelry was auctioned in 1987, only 5 of 16 Belperron pieces were tentatively identified as her creations. Asked once why she never signed her work, Madame Belperron replied, “My style is my signature.” Collectors of her jewelry range from her original clients, including the Duchess of Windsor, Diana Vreeland, and Lauren Bacall, to modern day style icons Daphne Guinness, Karl Lagerfeld and Catherine Deneuve. Born in Eastern France in 1900, Belperron studied drawing and jewelry at the École des Beaux-Arts in Besançon, beginning her career in 1919 as a draftswoman at the celebrated Maison René Boivin in Paris. Though designing at the avant-garde end of the Art Deco style, she quickly tired of the new vogue and began to ex-periment with her signature sensual style that is still so arrestingly modern today. Bernard Herz, a Parisian stone dealer, recognized her burgeoning talent and hired away the young Belperron in 1932 to design exclusively under his company name, B. Herz. With her newfound artistic freedom, she left behind the rigid lines of Art Deco to invoke the delicacy of wings, petals, and fruit, carving these organic shapes from hardstone and adorning them with precious gems. She drew on motifs from a range of cultures—African, Cambodian, Celtic, Egyptian, Indian, Mayan—and created a daring new look in fine jewelry. Paris Vogue photographed Schiaparelli wearing Belperron’s creations in 1933, declaring them, “the new theme in jewels.” The 1930s were a period of creative and commercial success for Belperron. She gained a famously influential following—Colette, Diana Vreeland, Daisy Fellowes, and Fred Astaire—but World War II brought hardship and tragedy. In German-occupied Paris, Belperron re-registered the company under her own name

Aquamarine, cabochon ruby and gold double “couronne,” or coronet, cuff. Groëné et Darde for Herz-Belperron. Private Col-lection. Photo David Behl.


to protect it from confiscation. While Bernard Herz had formally retired at the onset of war, he remained a target of the Nazi regime and was arrested twice, the second time along with Belperron in November 1942. While Belperron was released, Herz was sent to the internment camp, Drancy, in the northeast suburb of Paris. Belperron “moved heaven and earth” to release him but as Herz was over 65 years old, he was sent to Auschwitz, where he was executed upon arrival. Belperron received at least thirteen offers to escape France during the war years, but chose in-stead to remain in occupied Paris, preserving the company for Herz’s son, Jean, who returned safely from the front as a prisoner of war. Together, they formed a new partnership, Herz-Belperron, which flourished until their retirement in 1974.In 1963, Madame Belperron was awarded a Legion of Honor for her contributions to the jewelry industry but her influence as a designer continued to grow, even after her death in 1983. Having long admired her work, Ward Landrigan, former head of Sotheby’s Jewelry Department and owner of Verdura, purchased her archive of designs in 1999. Today, Nico Landrigan, Ward’s son and President of Verdura and Belperron, is responsible for the revival of Madame Belperron’s work.

Personal Note on Belperron

I first saw Suzanne Belperron’s work in the 1960s when I was running Sotheby’s jewelry department, and a gray agate brooch with a briolette aquamarine drop caught my eye. It was a rare moment when I realized I was faced with something quite extraordinary. The subtle differences between the gray and the blue gave the piece a spare grandeur and I suspected it was by the enigmatic Madame Belper-ron. But, unlike most jewelers, she never signed her work, making positive identifi-cation extremely difficult. During the next twenty years I saw more jewelry as distinctive as that first brooch. A few items were identified as Belperron; most were not. Even at the much publicized and researched Duchess of Windsor auction in 1987, many Belperron pieces sold without attribution. I was so taken by her jewelry that I began to buy it whenever I could afford it. Imagine my surprise in 1989, not five years after I bought the jewelry company Verdura, when a charming French master craftsman named Jean-Pierre Brun, invited me to see a selection of Suzanne Belperron’s designs. When I became aware of the scope of her archive, even the thousands of designs never realized, I understood that she was one of a handful of the most influential jewelry designers of the 20th century – and she was the only woman. She was an original; like Duke Fulco di Verdura in importance but remarkably different in aesthetic. Suzanne Belperron and her business partner Jean Herz closed their Paris business in 1974. Though never a household name, she was revered by many who left their own indelible mark on style, including Jean Cocteau, Mrs. Gary Coo-per, Doris Duke, Daisy Fellowes, Clark Gable, Dorothy Paley (later Hirshon),

Amethyst, diamond, platinum and gray gold “tourbillon,” or swirl, dress clip, originally de-signed with a detachable cuff

mounting. Groëné et Darde for B. Herz. Private Collection. Photo

David Behl.

20 ASJH

Elsa Schiaparelli, Diana Vreeland, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and, more recently, Lauren Bacall, Catherine Deneuve and Karl Lagerfeld. However, by the end of the 20th century her legacy had all but fallen into obscurity. My mission was clear: to restore the Belperron name and elevate it to its rightful position. In 1991, Jean-Pierre Brun and Jean Herz founded the Société Nouvelle Herz-Belperron with Herz’s grandson, David, Brun’s daughter, Valérie, and Belper-ron’s legatee, Michel Choisy. Brun had manufactured boxes and jeweled objects for both Verdura and Belperron and I came to know him through my revival of Verdura in 1985. Considering that the two designers had shared many of the same customers throughout their careers, it was a natural choice for me to work with her archive. In the period 1991–98 we made a small collection of Belperron jewelry (225 pieces) in Paris directly from her original designs. The craftsmen to whom we entrusted this work had direct lineage to Belperron’s own workshops and were familiar with her stringent manufacturing requirements. Every piece we made was signed, so as not to be confused with jewelry made during her lifetime. Our Verdura clients appreciated her aesthetic and we soon sold the entire collec-tion. In 1999, I bought the Belperron name and trademark outright, having al-ready begun work on a comprehensive book about her life and career. The lengthy process of locating and photographing the great Belperron collections in Paris, London and the United States was a rewarding challenge. In 2004, I was delight-ed that my son Nico decided to join me specifically to spearhead the Belperron relaunch. Suzanne Belperron, brilliant, beautiful, aloof and incredibly talented, was the only female master jeweler in the twentieth century to create her own indel-ible aesthetic. She achieved greatness in a male-dominated world and shattered the status quo, creating a signature style that in 2012 The New York Times labeled, “Modern, before the world was.”

Demi-parure comprising earclips and ring, each set with a baroque emerald bead and mounted in hammered 22kt “or vierge,” or virgin gold. Darde et Compagnie for Herz-Belperron. Private Collection.


Calendar

Exhibitions

Beads: A Universe of Meaning, The Wheel-wright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico, through Apr. 15, 2018.

A Centenary Celebration of Steltman jewellers, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands, through Feb. 18.

Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas, The Getty Center, Los Angeles, Sept. 16, 2017–Jan. 28, 2018; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, February 27- May, 28, 2018.

Jewellery: Designs in Print and Draw-ing, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, through Nov. 26.

Jewellery: materials craft art. Landes-museum Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland, through Oct. 22.

Knights and Ladies. Jewels of Honour, Il Museo del Gioiello, Vicenza, Italy, through Sept. 17. Linda MacNeil: Jewels of Glass, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, through Oct. 1.

Liv Blåvarp: Jewellery, Lillehammer Kunstmu-

seum, Lillehammer, Norway, through Oct. 29. Lords of the Ocean: Treasures of the Por-tuguese Empire of the 16th-18th Centuries, The Moscow Kremlin Museums, Moscow, Russia, through Feb. 25.

Medusa: Bijoux et tabous, Musée d’Art mod-erne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France, through Nov. 5.

Mementos: Jewelry of Life and Love, Eustis Estate Museum and Study Center, Milton, MA, through Jan. 7, 2018.

Must-haves: Jewellery Created by Greats of the Craft, Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Pforzheim, Germany, through Sept. 10.

Past Is Present: Revival Jewelry, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, through Aug. 19, 2019.

Pretty on pink: Eminences Grises in Jewel-lery, Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Pforzheim, Germany, Oct. 28, 2017-Feb. 2018

Vanity: Stories of Jewelry in the Cyclades, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos. Myko-nos, Greece, through Oct. 31.

Spectacular! Gems and Jewelry from the Merriweather Post Collection, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Washington, DC, through Jan. 14.

Style, Status, Sterling: The Triumph of Silver in America, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, ongoing.

LEFT: Partial set of JewelryPossibly the Vatican, Rome, c.

1857. Gold, glass, thread.Gift of Miss Jane S. Tucker. From

Mementos: Jewelry of Life and Love from Historic New England

BELOW:Girl Blowing Bubbles pendant. Fuset y Grau circa 1910.

Gold, platinum, enamel, pearl, ivory, sapphire, and diamond.

Museum purchase with fun-donated by Susan B. Kaplan,

William Francis Warden Fund, Carol Noble in honor of Susan B. Kaplan, and anonymously. Pho-

tograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. From Past is Present:

Revival Jewelry

24 ASJH

Copyright © August 2017This newsletter is only for membersof the American Society of JewelryHistorians. No portion may be reproduced without written permission of the Society. Any opinions expressed in this issue are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the posi-tions of the ASJH.For membership information contact:American Society of Jewelry Historians1333A North Avenue #103New Rochelle, NY 10804(914) 235-0983 (phone & fax)[email protected]

President: Diana Singer Newsletter Editor: Sarah Davis, [email protected]: Meg Selig

AS HJ

Auctions

Antiquorum(www.antiquorum.com) Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces, Hong Kong, Oct. 14Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces, Geneva, Nov. 12Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces, New York, Dec. 7

Bonham’s(www.bonhams.com) Coins and Medals, Los Angeles, Sept. 5The Dr. Sylvan and Faith Golder Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles, New York, Sept. 11Watches and Wristwatches, London, Sept. 12California Jewels, Los Angeles, Sept. 12Jewelry, Hong Kong, Sept. 13Fine Jewelry, New York, Sept. 19Fine Jewelery, London, Sept. 20Jewels & Jadeite, Hong Kong, Sept. 20Jewelry, London, Oct. 11Jewelry, London, Nov. 15California Jewels, Los Angeles, Nov. 21Jewelry, Edinburgh, Nov. 28Rare Jewels & Jadeite, Hong Kong, Nov. 29Fine Jewelry, New York, Dec. 4Fine Jewelry, London, Dec. 7Jewelry, London, Dec. 11

Christie’s(www.christies.com) Christie’s Jewels Online, Sept. 20-28Christie’s Jewels Online, Nov. 1-8Beyond Boundaries: Magnificent Jewels from a European Collection, Geneva, Nov. 13Magnificent Jewels, Geneva, Nov. 14Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels, Hong Kong, Nov. 28Jewellery, London, Nov. 29Christie’s Jewels Online, Nov. 29-Dec. 8Magnificent Jewels, Dec. 6

Doyle New York(www.doylenewyork.com) Provident Loan Society: Jewelry, Watches, Silverware & Coins, New York, Nov. 8Fine Jewelry, Beverly Hills, Nov. 13Important Jewelry, New York, Dec. 13

Dupuis Fine Jewellery Auctioneers(http://dupuis.ca) Important Jewels Auction, Toronto, Nov. 19

Freeman’s Auctioneers & Appraisers(www.freemansauction.com) Jewellery, Silver & Watches, Edinburgh, Sept. 12Fine Jewelery, Philadelphia, Nov. 1Select Jewelry & Watches, London, Nov. 15Jewellery, Silver & Watches, Edinburgh, Dec. 6

Heritage Auctions(www.ha.com) Jewelry, Beverly Hills, Sept. 25Timepieces, New York, Oct. 24Jewelry, New York, Dec. 4

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers(www.lesliehindman.com) Important Jewelry, Chicago, Sept. 10-12Fine Silver Jewelry, Chicago, Sept. 12Numismatics, Chicago, Sept. 12Fine Timepieces, Chicago, Sept. 4Important Jewelry, Chicago, Dec. 3-4

Phillips(www.phillips.com)Jewels and Jadeite, Hong Kong, Nov. 27

Rago(www.ragoarts.com)The Lexora Collection of Lalique Glass, New Jersey, Sept. 22

Skinner(www.skinnerinc.com)Fine Jewelry, Boston, Sept. 19Fine Jewelry online, Sept, 12-20

Sotheby’s(www.sothebys.com)Fine Jewels, London, Sept. 20Christian Dior, Bijoux de Mode: Fashion Jewellery Online, Sept. 20-Oct. 4Vivien: The Vivien Leigh Collection, London, Sept. 26Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite, Hong Kong, Oct. 3Important Jewellery and Jadeite, Hog Kong, Oct. 12Fine Jewels, New York, Oct. 17Magnificent Jewels, New York, Dec. 5Fine Jewels, New York, Dec. 7Fine Jewels, London, Dec. 12

Ruby Lips brooch design by Salvador Dalí made by Henryk Kaston, 1970-80. From Medusa

Bijoux et tabous. Private collec-tion. © Photo: Robin Hill

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