Adam's Fine Jewellery & Watches 5th December 2023

T uesday 5 th D ecember 2023 . S tarting at 4 pm 40 42 A PAIR OF DIAMOND BROOCHES, BY TEMPLIER, CIRCA 1955 Of swirled foliate openwork design, highlighted with old Europe- an-cut diamonds, mounted in platinum and 18K gold, diamonds approxi- mately 6.50cts total, unsigned, French assay marks, length 4.1cm € 6,000 - 7,000 Accompanied with its stamped original gouache drawing from Paul & Raymond Templier. For similar brooches, see page 186 from ‘Raymond Templier, le bi- jou moderne’ by Laurence Mouillefarine & Véronique Ristelhueber. The Parisian jewellery Raymond Templier (1891-1968) was one of a small group of innovative Art Deco designers known as ‘bijoutiers-artistes’ or ‘art- ist-jewellers’. These were innovative, radical, artist jew- ellers in contrast to the ‘bijoutiers-joaillers’ in France in the first quarter of the 20th century, who encompassed the more moderate, well established and famous jewel- lery houses. Templier came from a traditional jewellery family and grew up around the family business which his grandfather Charles had founded in 1849. However, af- ter he joined the Templier firm in 1919, Raymond was determined to redefine Maison Templier in order to pro- duce more innovative and for its time, radical designs. Bijoutiers-artistes such as Templier produced work in a minimal, geometric style that looked towards contempo- rary artistic movemts such as Cubism and were inspired by the imagery of industrial production and the machine age. Similarly, Art Deco’s love of geometric form which had initially flourished in the worlds of architectural de- sign and the visual arts throughout the 1920s and 30s, similarly became absorbed into jewellery design and in- fluenced the work of Templier. The geometric motifs of Templier’s jewellery thus reflect the dynamism of mod- ern urban culture and the mechanised world, earning him the reputation of ‘architect of the jewel’.