Chaumet Jewellery: Designs/Drawings in Nature

Chaumet Jewellery: Designs/Drawings in Nature - Dess(e)in de nature

The Chaumet Jewellery exhibition, Dess(e)in de nature– Designs in Nature – is a collection of works based on fauna and flora, a source of major inspiration in the Chaumet House since its creation in 1780. The exhibition in Paris will be held from 19 April to 15 June 2019.

The exhibition highlights the jewellers’ preparatory studies of their botanical designs, from inception to the final piece, step-by-step, until the gemstones become a work of art and a piece of jewellery.

The designs are inspired by fauna, such as the grasshopper, bee, frog, bird, beetle, lizard, snake, dragonfly, and butterfly, as well as flora, such as the tulip, fuchsia, primula, narcissus, iris, peony, lily, rose, ivy, holly, grape vine, oak tree and acorns. In addition are everyday plants, that become exquisite pieces of jewellery, such as wheat, oats, reeds, and bullrushes.

Prince Leon Radziwill commissioned silverware in 1845, such as a wine bottle cooler bucket and a candelabra, to mark ‘the French art of entertaining.’ Jean-Valentin Morel, from the House of Chaumet, considered to be the best silversmith of the time, designed the candelabra with a cedar tree and a heron eating a lizard. The wine bucket features two polar bears as handles.

My favourites include the butterfy brooch (1890) by Joseph Chaumet of gold, silver, diamonds, and rubies; the kingfisher brooch (1970) by Pierre Sterle of lapis lazuli, brushed gold, and diamonds; the wheat brooch (2015) by the House of Chaumet of gold and diamonds; and the gingko leaves collar necklace (1977) by Beatrice de Plinval and Pierre Sterle of gold, bronze, and diamonds.

The most interesting piece is a contemporary tiara designed by 21-year-old Scott Armstrong for the House of Chaumet. The House of Chaumet held a competition amongst students at the Central Saint Martins School in London in 2017 to design a modern tiara. The French Garden inspired Armstrong, calling his tiara the Vestiges. The Chaumet jewellers constructed the design with white gold, diamonds, tourmaline, and garnets.

Marc Jeanson, Head of Collections of the National Herbarium at the Museum of Natural History in Paris since 2013, curated the exhibition. This is the second exhibition in 2019, and it continues the theme of nature in jewellery design. The first exhibition focused on the jewellery of well-known writers, whereas this exhibition focuses on the jewellers’ craft and the detail of their drawings and designs.

Marie-Étienne Nitot established the Maison Chaumet in 1780 after working as the jeweller to Marie-Antoinette at the Court of Versailles. In 1805, Maison Chaumet became the official jeweller to Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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