EXCEPTIONAL ART NOUVEAU AGATE, DIAMOND, RUBY, PEARL, PLIQUE À JOUR ENAMEL AND GOLD CORSAGE ORNAMENT Of stylized dragonfly and seaweed design, the large green plique à jour enamel and sculpted gold openwork foliate plaque set with moss agate and rose-cut diamonds, extending a lozenge-shaped ruby and gold openwork arched motif, suspending three hinged graduating plaques of similar design, terminating with a baroque cultured pearl, mounted in 18K gold, in a suede fitted case, circa 1901 Signed by G. Fouquet In 1985, Georges Fouquet took over the family's jewelry maison his father, Alphonse, had founded in 1862. He had been associated with the firm since 1880 and, after taking control of the company, invited such talented individuals as Alphonse Mucha the Bohemian painter, and Charles Desrosiers, a former student of Eugene Grasset, to create jewelry in the popular Art Nouveau style. Both designers created imaginative jewelry that the Maison exhibited in international expositions at the turn of the century. Charles Desrosiers became a key designer for the firm. According to Marie-Noel de Gary in her essay, "The Jewellery Firm of Fouquet," in The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery 1850-1910 , "studies of his work in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs have revealed that he created all the pieces (for the firm) between 1898 to 1914, with the exception of those which Mucha was commissioned to make." His jewelry is characterized by a symmetrical arrangement of the parts, with patterns of diamonds accentuating shapes and forms. He drew upon nature for inspiration, reinterpreting common images in a decorative manner. For brooches and pendants, he turned to woodland flowers while larger corsage ornaments were adorned with creatures from marine life. Charles Desrosiers designed the illustrated corsage ornament, imaginatively combining a popular jewelry motif, the dragonfly, with plant life from the sea. The result is a stylized 'marine dragonfly family,' a mother and three offspring. Bodies and heads are made out of moss agate while seaweed, flattened and stretched, make up the wings in plique à jour enameling. The group skims across the water in a vertical arrangement with the mother at the head and her brood following below, each one in decreasing size. The larger dragonfly is crowned with a semi-circular aureole with five rays, set with rubies; the theme reiterated with three antennae, also set with rubies, gracing the head of each of the smaller creatures. A pendant baroque pearl, held in an octopus-shaped mounting, is suspended from the smallest dragonfly. This corsage ornament was exhibited in the following exhibitions: the 1901 Paris Salon des Artists Francais; "Art Nouveau Belgium-France," held at the Institute for the Arts, Rice University in Houston and Art Institute of Chicago in 1976; and "Les Fouquet Bijoutiers & Joailliers à Paris 1860-1960 "held at the Musèe des Arts Decoratifs in 1983. It is illustrated in the 1976 catalogue, plate 308, and in the 1983 catalogue on page 85. Cf. Yvonne Brunhammer, et al., Art Nouveau Belgium-France , Houston, 1976. Marie-Noel de Gary, Les Fouquet Bijoutiers & Joailliers a Paris 186-1960 , Paris, 1983. Michael Koch, Evelyne Posseme, Judy Rudoe, Geoffrey Munn, Marie-Noel de Gary, Barbara Furrer, Catherine Arminjon, Alexander Herzog von Wurttemberg, The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery 1850-1910 , London, 1990.
EXCEPTIONAL ART NOUVEAU AGATE, DIAMOND, RUBY, PEARL, PLIQUE À JOUR ENAMEL AND GOLD CORSAGE ORNAMENT Of stylized dragonfly and seaweed design, the large green plique à jour enamel and sculpted gold openwork foliate plaque set with moss agate and rose-cut diamonds, extending a lozenge-shaped ruby and gold openwork arched motif, suspending three hinged graduating plaques of similar design, terminating with a baroque cultured pearl, mounted in 18K gold, in a suede fitted case, circa 1901 Signed by G. Fouquet In 1985, Georges Fouquet took over the family's jewelry maison his father, Alphonse, had founded in 1862. He had been associated with the firm since 1880 and, after taking control of the company, invited such talented individuals as Alphonse Mucha the Bohemian painter, and Charles Desrosiers, a former student of Eugene Grasset, to create jewelry in the popular Art Nouveau style. Both designers created imaginative jewelry that the Maison exhibited in international expositions at the turn of the century. Charles Desrosiers became a key designer for the firm. According to Marie-Noel de Gary in her essay, "The Jewellery Firm of Fouquet," in The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery 1850-1910 , "studies of his work in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs have revealed that he created all the pieces (for the firm) between 1898 to 1914, with the exception of those which Mucha was commissioned to make." His jewelry is characterized by a symmetrical arrangement of the parts, with patterns of diamonds accentuating shapes and forms. He drew upon nature for inspiration, reinterpreting common images in a decorative manner. For brooches and pendants, he turned to woodland flowers while larger corsage ornaments were adorned with creatures from marine life. Charles Desrosiers designed the illustrated corsage ornament, imaginatively combining a popular jewelry motif, the dragonfly, with plant life from the sea. The result is a stylized 'marine dragonfly family,' a mother and three offspring. Bodies and heads are made out of moss agate while seaweed, flattened and stretched, make up the wings in plique à jour enameling. The group skims across the water in a vertical arrangement with the mother at the head and her brood following below, each one in decreasing size. The larger dragonfly is crowned with a semi-circular aureole with five rays, set with rubies; the theme reiterated with three antennae, also set with rubies, gracing the head of each of the smaller creatures. A pendant baroque pearl, held in an octopus-shaped mounting, is suspended from the smallest dragonfly. This corsage ornament was exhibited in the following exhibitions: the 1901 Paris Salon des Artists Francais; "Art Nouveau Belgium-France," held at the Institute for the Arts, Rice University in Houston and Art Institute of Chicago in 1976; and "Les Fouquet Bijoutiers & Joailliers à Paris 1860-1960 "held at the Musèe des Arts Decoratifs in 1983. It is illustrated in the 1976 catalogue, plate 308, and in the 1983 catalogue on page 85. Cf. Yvonne Brunhammer, et al., Art Nouveau Belgium-France , Houston, 1976. Marie-Noel de Gary, Les Fouquet Bijoutiers & Joailliers a Paris 186-1960 , Paris, 1983. Michael Koch, Evelyne Posseme, Judy Rudoe, Geoffrey Munn, Marie-Noel de Gary, Barbara Furrer, Catherine Arminjon, Alexander Herzog von Wurttemberg, The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery 1850-1910 , London, 1990.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
