Setting after a model by Mucha, decoration after Desrosiers.
Date: Circa 1900
Materials and technics: Gold, open enamel on spangles, opals, diamonds and baroque pearl
Dimensions: H. 12 x w. 5 cm
Inventory number: PPO3570
Acquisition details: Acquired in 1937
Room: 20
In 1895 Georges Fouquet took over from his father Alphonse Fouquet, who had founded a jewellery company in 1860. Inspired by collaborators full of new ideas such as Alphonse Mucha and Charles Desrosiers, Fouquet completely transformed the art of jewellery.
He commissioned Mucha to make a number of exceptional items of jewellery, such as a bracelet for Sarah Bernhardt, and entrusted him with decorating his new shop, which opened in 1900 at 6, Rue Royale. He commissioned Desrosiers, a former pupil of Grasset, designed jewellery for more everyday use. Fouquet’s jewellery was known for its decorative character and clarity of execution. Fouquet frequently surrounded the outline of his pieces with a line of small diamonds in order to set off the main pattern.
He often used enamels, which he appreciated for their transparency and delicate colour. He frequently combined them with opals chosen for their changing reflections, and baroque pearls which displayed irregularities in their surface and material. He drew most of his inspiration from flora and fauna, which provided him with an inexhaustible repertoire of shapes and colours.
D. M.
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