Lot 47
An Art Deco nephrite, onyx and diamond pendant, by Cartier, circa 1920
Amended
26 September 2018, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £81,250 inc. premium
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An Art Deco nephrite, onyx and diamond pendant, by Cartier, circa 1920
The rectangular 'mutton fat' nephrite plaque carved with auspicious motifs, including a double fish, a 'ruyi' and a knot, the reverse engraved with Chinese characters literally meaning 'blessings come from blessings', suspended from an articulated circular plaque decorated with undulating lines of single-cut diamonds and calibré-cut onyx, mounted in platinum, signed Cartier Paris, workshop mark for Renault, French assay marks, length 7.3cm
Footnotes
Provenance
Sir Alfred Chester Beatty
Sheila Wingfield, Lady Powerscourt
Descent to the current owner
The Chinese jade plaque, probably 19th century, is decorated with numerous motifs that signify blessings and abundant joy. The double fish, symbolising water, heralds money and the 'ruyi' symbolises power and good fortune. The ruyi is topped by a lingzhi mushroom that brings healing, luck, prosperity and the granting of wishes. The knot points to all being completed. The Chinese characters meaning "blessings come from blessings" act as a reminder to sow seeds of goodness for the future and for future generations. It also bears an artist signature for Lu Zigang, a celebrated and widely imitated jade carver of the late Ming period, whose name was often applied to jade carvings of later date.
Cartier borrowed liberally from other cultures for their designs; as early as 1913, the firm showcased fifty new jewelled creations at their New York premises, which they described as "from the Hindoo, Persian, Arab, Russian and Chinese". Many of the jewels incorporated genuine oriental elements, included carved white jade, mounted in Cartier settings. Jade would go on to be a fashionable material for use in Art Deco jewellery throughout the 1920s.
Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968) was a wealthy mining engineer, philanthropist and one of the most significant art collectors of the 20th century.
He was born in 1875 into a middle-class New York family and after graduating as a mining engineer from Columbia University in 1898, he headed west to Denver, Colorado, where he found work as a 'mucker', clearing away rock and soil from mine tunnels. Promotions followed and by 1908 he had become one of America's leading mining engineers, consulting on 90% of the world's mines, and living with his first wife, Ninette, and their two children in New York's fashionable East Side.
After Ninette's premature death in 1911, Beatty decided to move to London with his two children and in 1912, he purchased Baroda House in Kensington Palace Gardens. The following year, he married his second wife, Edith Dunn, also from New York, who was hailed as "one of the ten most beautiful women in America" and who was a patron of Parisian fashion and decorative art.
The couple travelled extensively building an impressive and diverse collection of books, manuscripts, paintings, furniture, snuff bottles, netsuke, amulets and objets d'art, including masterpieces from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Beatty employed a full-time librarian and several academic advisors to appraise items he wished to purchase for his collection and he became an important benefactor of the British Museum.
During World War Two, as informal advisor and friend to Winston Churchill, Beatty made key contributions to the Allied war effort, for which he later received a knighthood. However, Beatty became increasingly frustrated with Post-War Britain's politics and in 1950, retired to Ireland, from where both his paternal grandparents had been born at the end of the 18th Century. He took with him his extensive collection of works of art, much to the consternation of various British institutions. He was increasingly preoccupied with safeguarding his collection, in its entirety, for the future and in 1953, set up a purpose-built library in Dublin, initially for research, but then open to the public. Upon his death in 1968 his priceless collection was bequeathed to a trust for the benefit of the people of Ireland. Having become Ireland's first honorary citizen, Beatty was granted a State funeral and was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
Sheila Wingfield, Lady Powerscourt (1906-1992), was a poet and a writer. Wealthy and beautiful, she was largely self-taught and fought various obstacles during her lifetime to gain recognition for her work, despite admiration from contemporary writers such as W.B Yeats, Sir John Betjeman and T.S Eliot. Her best-known work, considered her masterpiece, is her 2000-line poem, Beat Drum, Beat Heart (1946), written about World War II, in which her husband served and was captured by the Germans in North Africa.
Lady Powerscourt met Sir Alfred Chester Beatty by chance in 1952, the same year Beatty's second wife, Edith Dunn, died. The two quickly struck up a friendship based on mutual esteem. Beatty held the highest respect for Lady Powerscourt's knowledge, judgement and understanding of his collection, which she would ultimately help him catalogue.
The two lots offered here, were gifts to Lady Powerscourt from Sir Alfred Chester Beatty from his personal collection. Since they were gifted in the 1950s and the jewels themselves date from the 1920s, it is possible they were acquired during his travels with his second wife Edith.
Not only do these two lots represent the Art Deco vogue for jewels in "exotic" taste, that Cartier, and other great jewellery houses of the period, so excelled in creating but these jewels also offer a glimpse into the history of the renowned Chester Beatty Collection and the characters involved with it.
Further reading
Croke, F. Director's Choice. Chester Beatty Library (Dublin, 2017)
Horton, C. Alfred Chester Beatty: From Miner to Bibliophile (Dublin, 2003)
Horton, C. "'It was all a great adventure'...Alfred Chester Beatty & the formation of his library" History Ireland, Vol. 8, Issue 2 (Summer 2000)
Perrick, P. Something to Hide: The Life of Sheila Wingfield, Viscountess Powerscourt (Dublin, 2007)
Roper, A. 'Powerscourt's Poor Literary Rich Girl...' Journal of Enniskerry and Powerscourt Local History Vol. 1, 2011. Retrieved from: http://enniskerryhistory.org/downloads/JEPLH1-Roper.pdf
The Chester Beatty Story, retrieved from the Chester Beatty Library website: http://www.cbl.ie/About-Us/The-Chester-Beatty-Story.aspx
Wingfield, Sheila, 'Sun Too Fast', Geoffrey Bles, (London, 1974)
Saleroom notices
Please note that the rectangular plaque is nephrite, and not "icy jade" as stated in the printed catalogue.