I · Cartier/II · The Étui/III · The Box/IV · Acquisition
Room I · Cartier
Paris, London, New York
The three-address Cartier stamp on the silk lid
Cartier was founded in Paris in 1847 and settled at 13 rue de la Paix in 1899, opening in London in 1902 and New York in 1909. Its enamelled objects of the 1910s and 1920s grew out of the brothers' study of Fabergé: Pierre Cartier visited Russia in 1904 and 1905 and Louis in 1909, and on their return the Paris house began commissioning guilloché enamel from Paris workshops, deliberately narrowing the palette and the range of shapes so that the pieces read as Cartier rather than as Russian. Étuis, cigarette cases, carnets, opera glasses and desk clocks all came out of that programme.
Room II · The Étui
Yellow enamel, sapphire and pearl
A flat body with a deep curved flap, both faced in translucent yellow enamel over an engine-turned ripple ground and framed in black metal. It closes on an oval sapphire cabochon ringed with sixteen seed pearls, all present. Press the stone and the flap opens. The back is chamois suede and the inside is lined in rust-red silk with a stitched pocket.
Cartier called a flat case like this an étui. At this size it served for cigarettes, cards or the small change of an evening. Most Cartier cases of the period are hard cases in gold or silver. A smaller number were made soft, in suede or leather with silk inside, for the evening bag and the dress pocket where a metal case sat heavy. Fewer were made and fewer have lasted, because suede and silk wear out where gold does not.
Here the enamel is the whole front and the whole flap, and it is free of chips, cracks and hairlines. The only marks in it are the fine rust-coloured flecks that went in at the firing. The clasp works cleanly. The silk has worn with use and time and the suede is rubbed at the edges, which is where a carried case wears.
Cartier called a flat case like this an étui. At this size it served for cigarettes, cards or the small change of an evening. Most Cartier cases of the period are hard cases in gold or silver. A smaller number were made soft, in suede or leather with silk inside, for the evening bag and the dress pocket where a metal case sat heavy. Fewer were made and fewer have lasted, because suede and silk wear out where gold does not.
Here the enamel is the whole front and the whole flap, and it is free of chips, cracks and hairlines. The only marks in it are the fine rust-coloured flecks that went in at the firing. The clasp works cleanly. The silk has worn with use and time and the suede is rubbed at the edges, which is where a carried case wears.
Room III · The Box
A Cartier box tooled with a royal crown
The closed crown on the lid
Red morocco-grain leather with a gilt border of rose swags, CARTIER and MADE IN FRANCE blocked on the outside, 130 by 90 mm, the ochre velvet base cut to a recess the étui fills exactly. The cream silk lid is stamped Cartier, Paris 13 Rue de la Paix, London 175 New Bond St, New York 653 5th Avenue. Cartier New York moved to 653 Fifth Avenue in 1917, which places the box after that date.
In the centre of the lid is a closed crown of eight half-arches beaded with pearls, an orb and cross above, fleurons on the circlet: the form used by the continental royal houses. Cartier boxes of the period are otherwise plain; a crown was tooled to order, for the client entitled to bear it. Cartier held warrants from the courts of Spain, Portugal, Greece, Serbia, Belgium, Italy and Romania across these years. Which of them this crown belongs to has not been established; what the box records is that the étui was supplied to a royal household.
In the centre of the lid is a closed crown of eight half-arches beaded with pearls, an orb and cross above, fleurons on the circlet: the form used by the continental royal houses. Cartier boxes of the period are otherwise plain; a crown was tooled to order, for the client entitled to bear it. Cartier held warrants from the courts of Spain, Portugal, Greece, Serbia, Belgium, Italy and Romania across these years. Which of them this crown belongs to has not been established; what the box records is that the étui was supplied to a royal household.
Enamel
Excellent
Front plate and flap free of chips, cracks and hairlines; fine rust-coloured flecking in the glaze from the firing.
Pushpiece
Excellent
Sapphire cabochon unchipped, all sixteen seed pearls present; peg and strike plate engage and release cleanly.
Frame
Very good
Black metal rims intact, light edge wear.
Suede
Good
Rubbed and darkened at the edges.
Lining
Fair
Rust-red silk faille worn and shredded in places, exposing the backing cloth; relining possible.
Box
Good
Hinge and clasp clean and working, spine sound; gilt fillet and garland rubbed, minor leather loss to the corners, worst on one; cream silk lid lining intact with the Cartier cartouche crisp; ochre velvet base discoloured where the étui has sat.
- Object
- Soft-sided étui (cigarette case, card case or evening pouch)
- Maker
- Cartier, in its fitted Cartier box
- Date
- C.1920; box 1917 or later
- Origin
- France
- Dimensions
- 100 by 70 mm
- Box
- 130 by 90 mm, red morocco-grain leather, gilt-tooled rose-swag border, royal crown to the lid, gold-blocked CARTIER and MADE IN FRANCE
- Enamel
- Translucent yellow guilloché over an engine-turned ripple ground, front plate and flap
- Frame
- Black metal rims to both plates
- Pushpiece
- Oval sapphire cabochon, milgrain bezel, sixteen seed pearls
- Body
- Chamois suede, silk faille lining with a stitched pocket
- Marks
- None to the mounts; box lid stamped Cartier, Paris, London, New York
- Reference
- CI-0044
The Estate Collection
Room IV · Acquisition
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Cartier Étui, c.1920
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