How Islamic art influenced one of fashion’s most famous jewelers | smart news

tiara cartier

Tiara, Cartier London, special order, 1936. Platinum, diamonds, turquoise. Sold to the Hon. Robert Henry Brand. Cartier collection.
Vincent Wulverick, Cartier Collection © Cartier

For 175 years, the word “Cartier” has been synonymous with iconic French glamour, from huge diamonds to carefully considered timepieces. But some of the jeweler’s signature style wasn’t homegrown, instead drawing inspiration from intricate Islamic art.

Now, a new exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) explores how Islamic art influenced the French luxury jewelry house and helped make Cartier a household name around the world. Created by the DMA and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, together with Cartier, the exhibition “Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity” is on view until September 18.

The house’s love affair with Islamic art began in the early 20th century, when Middle Eastern artists and dealers began bringing their art and antiques to exhibitions in major European cities. Louis J. Cartier, whose grandfather Jacques Cartier had founded the French family’s jewelry business in 1847, attended these shows and was fascinated by the patterns, shapes, colors and structure of Islamic art. His brother Jacques Cartier developed a similar connection to the distinctive art style after traveling to India in the winter of 1911-12.

feminine glass

Female vase, Iran, early 19th century, Hossein Afshar Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

© Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Photographer: Will Michels

As they expanded the family business around the world, the brothers began to weave Islamic art forms and techniques into their bracelets, watches, brooches, necklaces, rings, watches, and other luxury pieces.

More than 400 objects, from glittering tiaras to historic photographs and works of Islamic art from the DMA’s robust collection, tell the story of the evolution of Cartier’s style in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Cartier brothers, Louis, Jacques and Pierre, drew inspiration from India, Iran, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and beyond to develop the brand’s signature style, which evolved from neoclassicism to art nouveau and art. deco His colorful Tutti Frutti line from the 1920s and 1930s, for example, incorporated rubies, emeralds, and sapphires in the shapes of flowers, berries, and leaves found in traditional Mughal Indian jewelry.

“The discovery of Islamic art was so new,” Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s director of image, heritage and style, tells Holly Haber of Women’s Wear Daily. “It was an enchantment of new forms that were very decorative and very different from what was in the environment.”

Ewer

Ewer, late 10th-early 11th century, rock crystal, with enamel gold repairs and fittings by Jean-Valentin Morel (1794-1860), French, The Keir Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art , K.1.2014. 1.AB.

Courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art

The exhibit also incorporates modern digital technologies, including extreme magnification and animated video, to help showcase the creative process and intricacy of Cartier’s pieces. A mechanical “breathing necklace” also shows how a 1948 gold and diamond piece transforms to fit the neck. As Jean Scheidnes writes for Texas Monthly, the exhibition’s use of technology “empowers the jewelry by making its intricate beauty more legible.”

Cartier’s most famous piece of jewelry is the 45.52-carat Hope blue diamond setting, which was mined in the late 17th century in what was then the Islamic Kingdom of Golconda. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who brought the diamond to France, traveled back and forth to Persia and India several times during his lifetime. The accounts of him from the Islamic world fascinated the French and were used to justify colonial expansion in North Africa and India.

Cartier Cigarette Case

Cigarette case, Cartier Paris, 1930. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, diamond. Cartier collection.

Vincent Wulverick, Cartier Collection © Cartier

Although an exhibit focused on ultra-opulent jewelry that few people can afford is unlikely to change the world or ease geopolitical tensions between East and West, as Islamic art expert Sabiha Al Khemir told the Smithsonian’s Amy Crawford in 2010, museums can help bridge the gap between different cultures.

Islamic art, in particular, and the jewelery that is inspired by it, “is calling you to come closer and look, to accept that it is different and try to understand that, even if it is small, it can have something to say. Maybe it’s a whisper. Maybe you need to get closer,” Al Khemir said.

“Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity” is on view at the Dallas Museum of Art through September 18.

Colonialism Designers Exhibitions Exhibitions Fashion France Islam Jewelry Middle East Museums

recommended videos

Source: www.smithsonianmag.com