Lacloche Frères Rare and Important pair of gem set and...

Each featuring an Egyptian figure in a characteristic stance, set with buff-top rubies, emeralds and onyx to circular- and single-cut diamonds, supporting a fringe similarly-set, screwback fittings, signed Lacloche Frères Paris, French assay marks for platinum.

Condition Report:
Signed LACLOCHE FRÈRES PARIS. French assay marks for platinum. Later added screwback fittings stamped 14K for 14 carat gold. Diamonds estimated to weigh a total of approximately 2.00 - 3.00 carats, on average G-H colour, VS, some SI clarity, as gauged and graded in the mount. The emeralds are medium light to medium green, moderately included. The rubies are a vibrant medium to medium deep purplish red, slightly included. The emeralds and rubies with scattered chips and abrasions, noticeable upon close inspection. The onyx is largely intact and in good condition, with a few areas of loss, not readily apparent. Light scratching to the metal consistent with age and wear. In good condition. Measuring approximately 55 x 15mm. Total gross weight approximately 14 grams.

Catalogue Note:
Egyptomania

In the 1920s, the vocabulary of luxurious jewellery was largely spelled-out in diamonds and precious colored stones, and the shapes, forms and iconography were thematically influenced to a great degree by various ancient cultures. Vogue magazine published a number of features in 1921 on fashions in ancient Egypt, Greece and the Near East.

The discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922 inflamed a fascination with the land of the pharaohs that spread across the globe, and jewellers turned to symbols from ancient Egyptian art as a source of inspiration for their creations of glittering statement pieces. It is a period when trends in fashion and jewelry were inextricably linked. Bias cuts and tunic shapes proliferated. Couturiers such as Doucet, Lanvin and Vionnet created evening dresses which perfectly complemented the latest fashions in jewels such as elongated pendant earrings and panel bracelets. Scarabs, sphinxes, pharaohs, scribes, musicians and archers along with gods in their animal forms such as Anubis and Nekhbet, were often accented by hieroglyphics in undecipherable narratives using diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and onyx to tell the story.

Jean-Marcel Humbert, who was curator at the Musée du Louvre during the 1994 exhibition titled Egyptomania accurately observed that “Egyptomania” is more than a simple mania for Egypt. It is not enough to copy Egyptian forms, artists must “re-create” them in the cauldron of their own sensibility and in the context of their times.” This was surely the goal of Lacloche and they successfully achieved that goal. In 1925, at the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs, Lacloche exhibited at the Grand Palais and was awarded a Grand Prix.

The production of Art Deco Egyptian-themed jewellery was short-lived, lasting until the onset of the 1930s, and it is important to note that these Egyptian-themed examples were fewer in number compared with other types of jewels created during the same period. The rare pair of earrings by Lacloche offered here can be considered among the finest examples of Egyptian revival Art Deco jewellery.