Cartier Phanthère : Assouline’s Book Review
As part of our recent line of Jewelry, launched this year, L’Essenziale it’s proud to partner with Assouline to complete the puzzle of Jewelry History in a series of articles. Today we are proud to bring you Cartier Phanthère.
Let’s travel together to another time, a key part of Jewelry makers that has influenced many, including us.
The history of Panthère, the most famous icon of the great French Maison
Why do jewelry (and Cartier watches) often wear the Panther icon, which has become the symbol of some famous collections? Panthère’s charm originated in 1914, with an image. At that time, the Parisian company was run by Louis, Jacques and Pierre Cartier (the House was founded in 1847 by her grandfather, Louis-François Cartier). That year Louis asked French painter George Barbier to create a watercolor painting to be used as an invitation to a jewelry exhibition.
La Dame à la Panthère represents a woman elegantly dressed with a panther at her feet. The small painting has been so successful that Cartier began using feline design.
At the beginning of the 20th century, big cats were in fashion to express femininity: these animals were seen as the highest expression of women. Characters who celebrated Parisian nights, such as the Marquise Luisa Casati, who had adopted cheetahs in her Venice home (now the Guggenheim home), confirm the charm of super cats in high society.
In any case, in 1914 we see the first Cartier Panther: a watch that has a stained surface. The panther was first portrayed in a beauty case owned by Jeanne Toussaint, Cartier’s jeweler since 1933, considered the Coco Chanel of jewelry.
A relationship between Jeanne Toussaint (1887-1976) and Louis Cartier began when she was 31 years old. Cartier had been intimidated by her beauty, the carefree spirit, and the aura of greatness. Toussaint has played an important role in making the Panthère de Cartier collection the icon that has become, so much that she herself was called La Panthère. In 1927, a designer named Peter Lemarchand joined the Cartier team. He was highly skilled, observing panthers at the zoo until, in collaboration with Toussaint, he was able to translate them into jewelry-making designs. Lemarchand has played an important role in making the panther the legend that he is today.
About Cartier Panthère Book
Browsing through Assouline gorgeous catalog of Art Books, we can find many jewels. Today, Bérénice book took our attention, as well as our breath while eyeing though his 300 pages. Containing more than 150 illustrations of fine jewels by French maker Cartier, this book brings us back to another time. A time when big cats represented women most ambitious dreams. Today, this has become a timeless collection.
Featuring texts by art historian Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter, jewelry historian Vivienne Becker, jewelry expert Joanna Hardy, and fashion editor André Leon Talley, Cartier Panthère chronicles the panther in art history, the evolution of Cartier panther jewels, the techniques involved in creating a Cartier panther jewel, the influence of the panther in fashion, design, and popular culture, and includes a chronology of 100 years of Cartier panther jewels.
Silently stalking its way through Cartier iconography for a century, the panther is the proud leader of the pack of precious animals that make up the famous Cartier menagerie. No other creature or jewel is quite so indissolubly and emotively connected to outstanding 20th-century women of style, to ideals of modern femininity, and has become Cartier’s most iconic motif for a century. A symbol of power, seduction, and triumph since ancient times, the image of the panther never fails to arouse fantasies and dreams.
Assouline
Silently stalking its way through Cartier iconography for a century, the panther is the… [More]
