Bling-bling!

I came back to work right into the big opening week for the latest temporary exhibition - Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design. 
Since I had been away during the last training sessions pre-opening, I wasn't comfortable delivering the opening tours this time, instead I just got to enjoy it, in all its glittery glory!

This exhibition tells the story of over 100 years of sparkling cultural exchange. A story, as it also shows, that is far from over! Well suited to fit in with the narrative of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It brings together over 400 objects, including pieces of jewellery, pieces of Islamic art, archival drawings, various documents and lots of pieces in between.

The curators have reconstructed the creative process of the designers of the early 20th century Cartier jewellery by doing an enormous almost archeological work digging through the Cartier archives to be able to juxtapose the pieces with their source of inspiration. Like here below:

In the same fashion, the studies for this Oriental Bandeau from 1911, show the various stages of development for this bandeau; where you can see that the first traces came from a wave motif, likely inspired by the depiction of water in a Persian carpet, in a book from the Cartier library:

The exhibition explores the many different ways this new inspiration came into the Cartier workshops, from the Islamic items that came to Paris at the time, when merchants, dealers and collectors started obtaining a large number of art works; from the Parisian museums, focusing for the first time on Islamic art; and from the new books on the subject, many who found their way into Jacques Cartier's private library.
Below you can see one of the many scrapbooks the designers created:

This tiara from 1912, made on special order for a Russian philanthropist initially and now in the Cartier Collection; has calligraphy carved into the rock crystal, borrowed from the Arabic repertoires of motifs.

Lots of beautiful pieces, and quite a few with interesting back stories as well. Like this early 20th century garland style platinum choker from the Cartier Collection, that was worn by Rihanna on a famous magazine cover in 2016.

Or this brooch that once belonged to Elton John:

And a stunning necklace belonging to the collection of Sheikha bin Khalifa of Qatar:

An amazing Coral Bandeau from 1922 is shown together with a cleverly designed projection, that in extreme magnification immerses you in its construction. Super cool!

The Tiger Eye turban ornament from 1937, on loan from the Al Thani Collection.
This has an amazing and extremely unique whisky coloured diamond in the center, of 61,5 carat; and it is set with a highly unusual feature - the central diamond can be completely released! It seems like the maharaja enjoyed taking it out, to hold it and study it under different lights, just for the pleasure of it. Like a true collector he would admire all his gems, even when alone.

This was just a first taste. I'm sure I'll be taking (and showing) many more pictures in the weeks to come!