After “La Faune” and “La Flore“, “Figures”, a book produced with support from the Ecole des Arts Joailliers, completes the triptych devoted to jewelry by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In it you will find insect-women by René Lalique, Venus at her toilet, portraits of the Duke of Montebello with his children engraved on seashells, death’s heads and joined hands forming a ring. These human figures have numerous meanings: symbols of love, signs of political affiliation or representations of vanity or devotion, like the Christ carved on the boxwood beads of a rosary. Meanwhile, more recent pieces like the ballerina-clip by Van Cleef & Arpels and the “Mouth” necklace by Claude Lalanne are purely aesthetic. Fascinating stuff.
