Press article : The Cannes Marathon : from Cartier jewellery to modern painters - La Gazette Drouot

Cartier
"Nightingale" brooch

Together with Claire Yvonne Tricoche, we travel back to 1930s Paris : a golden age for fashion, which saw her become one of the leading models and muses of the famous couturier Jean Patou. Between around 1940 and 1943, she commissioned these brooches from Cartier, combining luxury and ingenuity. Both are accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the IAJA stating that they are the work of Cartier, that they were made to order, and that their pouches and cases are original. They have remained in the family of their patron to this day. The ‘Feuillage’ brooch in platinum is estimated at 12000/22000€. It features a botanical motif of undulating, openwork leaves, set with 8/8 diamonds in baguette, old-cut and marquise cuts, totalling approximately 5.50 ct.

Cartier, "Nightingale" brooch in yellow gold and platinum, set with approximately 2.50 ct of pavé diamonds and european-cut diamonds, centred with an oval diamond of approximately 1.20 ct, two cabochon and facetted rubies, marked ‘Monture Cartier’, numbered, Cartier maker’s mark, circa 1943, 4.4 x 3.3 cm. Estimate : 15000/25000€

As for "the nightingale" brooch, it combines yellow gold and platinum. This was a signature choice for Cartier’s creations at that time, with the gold lending warmth and volume to the plant and animal motifs, whilst platinum was favoured for setting the diamonds, allowing the stones to be shown off to their best advantage thanks to its durability and understated elegance. The singing nightingale perched on its branch conveys a remarkable sense of movement in this brooch, demonstrating Cartier’s inventiveness as well as the expertise of its workshops in the art of gem-setting and metalwork. Symbols of freedom and renewal, birds have held a special place in the House’s collections since the early 20th century, alongside panthers, tigers, crocodiles and flamingos. In the 1920s and 1930s, they featured prominently on brooches and were designed as miniature sculptures combining gemstones and precious metals. In 1942, the shop windows of the Rue de la Paix store, not far from the German headquarters, displayed brooches depicting caged birds. This bird was none other than a nightingale crafted from lapis lazuli, coral, white gold and diamonds. Conceived by Jeanne Toussaint and designed by Peter Lemarchand, these provocative pieces of jewellery earned the house’s director a few days’ detention. During her interview, she explained her choice of this motif as follows : "Because I love birds. The first one was one of the charms adorning a bracelet made in 1933 for Mrs Yvonne Printemps. Her nickname was “the nightingale”."

August Thursday 13, Friday 14, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16, JEUDI 13, Cannes. BESCH CANNES AUCTION OVV. M. KUZNIEWSKI, M. DE GARO.

LA GAZETTE DROUOT N° 29 OF JULY 24, 2026 p.114