A multi gem-set orange tree brooch,

by Cartier, 1914

Footnotes

Provenance
Gifted to Elizabeth Corbett on her wedding day in 1941 by Lady Jean Ward, granddaughter of Darius Ogden Mills, US financier and philanthropist and once the richest man in California.

This is a rare example of Cartier's "Orange Tree" design and was created by Cartier Paris in 1914. This small brooch, standing just 3.3cm high, incorporates a myriad of innovative design influences and technical innovations, all characteristic of Cartier's pioneering designer Charles Jacqueau (1885-1968). After joining the firm in 1909, Jacqueau guided Cartier away from the Garland Style, advocating bold colours in inventive, contemporary designs that would set it apart from its competitors artistically. Jacqueau borrowed liberally from other cultures in his design repertoire; motifs from Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Indian, Islamic, Japanese, Greek and Chinese civilizations were all thrown into the melting pot. His sketches from nature in the Jardins des Plantes were translated into miniature gemstone plants, earning him the nickname "Jacqueau la Fleur". Jacqueau regularly visited the Louvre and drew inspiration from the exhibits there; perhaps the painting "Madonna della Vittoria" (1495), depicting Saint Elizabeth and the little Saint John under lemon and orange trees on which birds perch, helped to inspire the "Orange Tree" line.

One of Cartier Paris' earliest "Orange Tree" brooches was made in 1913; it is similar to this example in being of two-dimensional, highly stylised form incorporating birds' head motifs, but here the similarity ends. Whereas the 1913 brooch is monochromatic, almost entirely set with white diamonds offset by a few onyx highlights, this brooch, made a year later, bursts with colour combinations and different shapes and cuts of gemstone: from the carved rock crystal applied over a green foil, to the buff-top calibré-cut citrines, and the use of shaped onyx, which had been introduced into Cartier's designs from 1910, and which lent structure and contrast to so many of its Art Deco pieces. In addition, the brooch displays the maker's mark of Henri Picq, Cartier's main workshop supplier between 1900 and 1918, renowned for their high-quality platinum and who would later execute many of the "Tutti Frutti" pieces of which the brooch is surely a very early forerunner.

See Hans Nadelhoffer "Cartier Extraordinary", Thames & Hudson, 1984, black and white photograph No 109, a similar orange tree brooch, 1913, by Cartier Paris. See also plate 11, an "orange tree" hatpin in carved rock crystal with onyx and diamond fruits, dated 1926.