This month they turn their attention to 19th century French jewellery with an ambitious survey spanning production over the entire century.
The show opens on June 13 and has been timed to coincide with Thames and Hudson’s publication of an English translation of Henri Vever’s Le Bijouterie Française au XIXe Siècle.
Wartski have gathered together over 300 pieces loaned from private collections and from a wide range of institutions including the British Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Musée de L’Emaillerie et de L’Horlogerie in Geneva and the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim.
The exhibition aims to cover all the stylistic developments in what was a particularly rich and eventful period. It features examples of archeological, medieval and Renaissance revivalism as evidenced in the work of French designers such as Eugène Fontenay and Froment-Meurice, then takes us through the Oriental influence of the 1870s and moves on to the increasing use of naturalism that culminated in the fully fledged Art Nouveau style in the final years of the century.
Art Nouveau is particularly well represented, with works by Gaillard, Vever and the best known exponent of the style, René Lalique, and includes pieces that were shown at the Exposition Universelle of 1900.
French Jewellery of the 19th century runs at Wartski, 14 Grafton Street London W1 from June 13-23. Tel 020 7493 1141. Entrance including a catalogue is £7 in aid of Befrienders International.
Wartski continue their tradition of fine summer displays
The loan exhibitions held by London jewellery dealers Wartski have become something of an event in the summer calendar. They focus on specific areas of the jeweller’s art and previously the spotlight has been turned on such subjects as the tiara in 1997, and two years ago an impressive show dedicated to the work of the Parisian firm Falize Frères.
