Mackay emerald necklace by Cartier (Photo: Chip Clark/Smithsonian)
When we think of creators at the pinnacle of fine-jewelry design, Louis Comfort Tiffany and Louis-Francois Cartier are high on the list. They and their firms rose to prominence by creating luxurious rings, brooches, tiaras, and other extravagant and elegant baubles for the moneyed denizens of the Gilded Age—and the generations that followed.
The work produced by these artists and their workshops are still considered some of the best and most innovative jewelry ever made, and their creations the ultimate status symbol. These treasures are found in museums all around the world and fought over hotly when they appear at auction. Each artist had a characteristic style and established a brand that still connotes luxury and glamour. Art historian Stefanie Walker provides a guide to their glittering legacies.
Walker is an adjunct faculty member of the master’s program in the history of decorative arts run by Smithsonian Associates and George Mason University. She is also a certified goldsmith and jeweler and an honorary member of the Nobil Collegio degli Orafi, the Roman goldsmith’s guild.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1/2 credit
Smithsonian Connections
One of the most intriguing Gilded Age works from Tiffany and Co. in the American History Museum’s collection—and perhaps the most characteristic of the period’s extravagance—is a fancifully embellished woman’s bicycle. Introduced in the Christmas season of 1895, Tiffany gave a glamorous makeover to a standard commercial bicycle by adding foliage, rosettes, and other Art Nouveau-inspired figures made of silver covered with a thin layer of gold. The owner of the model in the Smithsonian’s collection had her monogram added to the front tube in gold with diamonds and emeralds.
