Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

CARTIER, AN ART DECO JADEITE, SAPPHIRE, DIAMOND AND ENAMEL VANITY CASE, PARIS, CIRCA 1925, of rectangular form, decorated with white enamel and a border of geometric chinoiserie motifs in black and blue basse-taille enamel, the hinged cover set with a carved green jadeite foliate plaque decorated with mounts set with sugarloaf cabochon sapphires and rose-cut diamonds, with a sapphire- and diamond-set thumbpiece, opening to reveal a covered compartment inscribed '34 East 36th Street, New York' and '12 Grosvenor Sq., W.1', a hinged lipstick holder and a mirror to the cover, lipstick holder bearing the monogram 'C.A.M.' in yellow gold, signed Cartier, Paris Londres New York, French 'tête de lièvre' mark, width 8.8cm, gross weight 173g

Provenance: Purchased Sotheby's, Magnificent Jewels, 5th December 2012, lot 63, for $25,000.

One of the best loved of all Art Deco features is the use of chinoiserie motifs, and no more so that in Cartier's creations from this period. The present lot displays all the skill and quality that sets apart the maison's adoption of Chinese forms and materials in the 1920s, as it searched across Egypt, India and the Far East for inspiration to create a new modern style. The vanity case offered here, with its striking carved jadeite plaque centring the hinged cover, clearly speaks of the Art Deco fascination for opulent materials, innovative forms and a subtle nod to cosmopolitan luxury, that made the allusion to China particularly popular at the time. However, there is an additional surprisingly subtle reference to Chinese forms in this piece: its white enamel decoration. Clearly of Art Deco taste in its simple, clean design at variance with earlier, more intricate decorative finishes, it is specifically of Chinese inspiration. In creating this new design of enamel decoration, Cartier looked to traditional Chinese silks, which often featured striated panels as part of their composition. The maison developed two types of enamel decoration from this source: pékin, typified by bold, wide striations, and the finer mille raies, from the French 'thousand rays'. It is this more delicate variant that can be seen on the present lot, subtly lending this case its Art Deco feel and nuancing the Chinese theme to its composition.

Cf. Olivier Bachet and Alain Cartier, 'Cartier: Exceptional Objects' (Palais Royal, 2019), p.138, for another example of a Cartier vanity case of a similar date decorated with mille raies enamel.