Jewelled Objects

While the decorative objects and objets d’art at the Arcade reconnected with ancient traditions, they were also a product of their time and new lifestyle and consumption habits. In the past, these pieces were made to honour orders from wealthy patrons, but between 1970 and the middle of the 1980s, the majority of the objects made were intended for boutique stock.

Nonetheless, the Maison remained attentive to its clients, designing pieces for private orders. King Hassan II of Morocco was one of Chaumet’s main clients during this period.

The diversity of these objects demonstrates a brand new take on the art of living, where Chaumet adapted to the desires and expectations of its clients. This is what Chaumet always kept in mind when reinventing everyday objects. It added fine, hard precious stones.

As well as using usual materials such as malachite, jasper, coral, hematite and chalcedony, the production details highlight an effort to find new materials and textures: chalcopyrite, Mexican green calcite, aragonite, sodalite, petrified palm wood or rhodonite.

René Morin’s creativity knew no bounds: bowls with silver-gilt motifs were adorned with quartz and tourmaline inclusions, a shell was transformed into a dragon with green agate eyes, an owl took shape around an agate pebble.

The Arcade was packed with accessories for smokers, trinket bowls, numerous bowls and boxes in hard gemstones, a silver-gilt chess set, amethyst paperweight or a “bridge players” set composed of a table around which sit four silver-gilt poodles on pink quartz seats. Magnifying glasses and lorgnettes became fairy tale objects, sweet boxes and cane handles were displayed in the Arcade’s adaptable, dynamic showcases.

While the big names and aristocratic families that made Chaumet famous throughout its history were still present, the 1970s saw the arrival of new more cosmopolitan and diverse clients: leading industrialists, people from the world of finance and politics, the great Gulf and Mediterranean dynasties, as well as the first Japanese clients who arrived in force.

Chaumet also reconnected with the tradition of official commissions, which dated back to the Maison's founder. Workshop records show numerous orders from Georges Pompidou, then French President, for example this arbre de vie made from coral and silver-gilt. Numerous other members of the French government were also clients.

One of the Arcade’s most iconic creations is without doubt the Bestiaire fabuleux by Baccarat and Chaumet. This incredible menagerie composed of 37 sculptural animals, brings together Baccarat crystal and Chaumet’s savoir-faire, in a unique, unprecedented art form.

Fragmented crystal taken from the bottom of the pot, known as “cullet”, was cut again and polished under the watchful eye of René Morin, to create a bestiary set with topaz, amethyst, lapis lazuli or turquoise, crowned by the gold of vermeil.

A fox nicknamed Filou with expressive eyes made from tiger’s eye with a cat’s eye pupil. Adonis the panther, Cléo the cat, Savane the zebra, or Furia the hyena, were coated with grooved vermeil, sparkling with gold on the crystal.

Le Bestiaire fabuleux inspired Chaumet to create a subsequent menagerie, composed of numerous rock crystal animals, like this pair of deer for a European royal family, this carnelian giraffe now found in the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature or this fluorite and vermeil bull.

Rock crystal very much inspired the Maison’s designs, for example this block adorned with an agate and vermeil plaque which was turned into a table lamp, or the kinetic sculpture embellished with a gold and silver disc.

René Morin and the Arcade’s creations demonstrate an ability to see in crystal and stones what children naturally see when they look at clouds, an entire bestiary and imaginary shapes.