The birds and the bees — not to mention fish, snakes, lions, tigers and many other animals — have long served as the subjects of jewels, from ancient amulets steeped in symbolism to modern adornments like Cartier’s panthers, Pierre Sterlé’s birds and JAR’s butterflies. Master jewelers of the past 150 years have captured these beasts’ natural grace and charm in wearable art that appears in the gloriously detailed photos of Beautiful Creatures: Jewelry Inspired by the Animal Kingdom.
The volume is a companion catalog to an exhibition of the same name at New York’s American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), inaugurating the museum’s newly redesigned Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals. Authored by jewelry historian Marion Fasel — who is also the exhibition’s guest curator — the book is divided into three major sections. “Air” features butterflies, dragonflies, bees, beetles, cicadas and flies, as well as birds. “Water” encompasses fish, lion’s paw scallops, starfish, seahorses, crocodiles, jellyfish, and the Portuguese man o’ war. “Land” highlights snakes, lizards and salamanders, tortoises, spiders, panthers, tigers, elephants, giraffes, lions and zebras.
Behind the scenes
Fasel was charged with coming up with a jewelry exhibition for the museum’s 150th anniversary. The exhibit was originally scheduled to open in September — which is why the book is out now — but the opening was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she explains. It is now set to run from February 17 through August 2021.
The idea of focusing on animal-themed jewelry from the past 150 years was conceived as a “tribute to all the animals represented at the museum, and the precious stones in the new Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals,” says Fasel. “The theme also grew out of the fact that so many amazing jewelry designers have visited the museum and been inspired by it or other museums of natural history around the world. I thought it would be fitting to show their work in the museum.”
She had another group of visitors in mind as well: children, who make up “a large percentage” of the museum’s audience. “I thought the animal theme would be appealing and accessible to children, and I wanted the exhibition catalog to be small-scale and affordable so they could enjoy it.”
Natural selection
To narrow down the selection of jewels, she first decided what to eliminate. “There are no barnyard or domestic animals, or animals dressed as people, which is a subgenre of the category. I didn’t want any animals that are not featured in some other area of the museum,” she explains. When she ultimately did choose a piece, it was to illustrate a point. “I’d classify the vast majority of the jewels as masterworks, but there are small unsigned pieces as well that represent an overall style of jewelry.”
Finding all of these works was no small undertaking; it took her over a year. “There are over 100 jewels in the exhibition catalog,” she says. “They are all going to be on display. Just a few of the masterpieces from Cartier will be present in shifts — some for the first half, and some for the second half.”
Fasel worked with many different sources, including “private and individual collectors, corporate jewelry archives and jewelry dealers who maintain personal collections, as well as a few contemporary designers.” She describes the process as “a real treasure hunt. I found pieces here in New York. Many I discovered while I was in Los Angeles. And I took a trip to Paris to work with archivists at Mellerio, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels, among other places.”
From fascination to fashion
So many jewelry designers feel a connection with nature, Fasel observes. “They talk about it passionately and find inspiration in it.”
People’s interest in certain types of animals at given points in history influenced the jewelry of those periods, she continues. “During the late 19th century, for example, the popularity of insect collecting and study resulted in insect jewels that look remarkably realistic. There is a stunning leaf weevil set with emeralds made by Tiffany & Co. during this period. I also found a fierce diamond and ruby stag beetle by Boucheron from the same era.”
Some designers have capitalized on the way gems can resemble parts of an animal’s body, the author notes. “For example, there is an unsigned late-19th-century tortoise brooch in the exhibit with rose-cut diamonds on the shell. The surface pattern on the rose cuts echoes the pattern of a real tortoise’s shell. In 1967, Jean Schlumberger recognized that moonstones resembled the luminous quality of the bell part of a jellyfish, and used them for that purpose in his design.”
Famous pieces
Of the many notable items in the catalog, Fasel says the most iconic is the Cartier panther brooch that belonged to the duchess of Windsor. Created in 1949, it features a 152.35-carat Kashmir sapphire. “Even people with just a passing knowledge of jewelry history know that piece,” she asserts. While Cartier had made other panthers before, that jewel “truly began the evolution of the Cartier panther [into] the unofficial mascot of the house and one of the most recognizable animals in all of jewelry history.”
Other standouts she highlights include Verdura’s shell brooches, which are “also wildly imaginative. The designer, Fulco di Verdura, purchased the shells in the museum’s gift shop during the 1940s and then set them with gems that look like water receding off the surface. I think [socialite and philanthropist] Brooke Astor’s lion brooch, made by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1968, is going to be a new popular favorite. I also believe people will be astonished by Salvador Dalí’s starfish brooch with butterflies, made around 1950. And I hope they take special notice of the little opal and platinum dragonfly designed by Julia Munson under the direction of Louis Comfort Tiffany.”
The jewels that Mexican actress Maria Félix famously commissioned from Cartier — her crocodile necklace, snake necklace and snake earrings — are all “superstars,” Fasel states. “They show how a daring client can encourage a magnificent jeweler to push the envelope open even further. The duchess of Windsor’s Cartier jewels — the flamingo and panther brooches — are in the same league, obviously. They are just so iconic and historic with the quality of the designs and the history attached to them.”
‘Colorful and magical’
Asked what type of animal jewelry she herself owns or would likely wear, Fasel points to snakes, “because the form gives so much movement to jewelry, and that is a quality I love.” As for whether she has a favorite in the exhibition catalog, she says she loves “all the pieces shown in there, for different reasons.”
She hopes people will come to the exhibit “for the masterpieces they know, and then fall in love with masterpieces that they didn’t know.” While jewelry can so often be seen as a symbol of power, Fasel says, “I believe the animals show the lighter side of jewelry. These pieces are incredibly crafted, and most are classified as important or high jewelry, but they are also colorful and almost magical. I hope the exhibit provides people with a sense of wonder and joy.”
Beautiful Creatures: Jewelry Inspired by the Animal Kingdom by Marion Fasel was published in September by Rizzoli Electa in association with the American Museum of Natural History.
Image: C. Chesek/AMNHArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2020. To subscribe click here.