A range of Cartier is on display at Sichuan Museum, showcasing some of the world's most famous jewels. Sun Yuanqing reports.

Famous pieces of jewelry are often associated with their legendary owners: Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor's diamonds or the late British duchess Wallis Simpson's brooch.

All this historic jewelry is now on display at the Making of Art exhibition in Sichuan Museum in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Organized by Cartier Collection and Sichuan Museum, the exhibition showcases 339 of Cartier's most precious heritage pieces alongside 87 pieces of Chinese art from the Chinese museum. The exhibition also marks the opening of the 2015 Croisements Festival, an annual festival promoting Sino-French cultural exchanges.

The exhibition revisits all the classic styles in Cartier's history since the 1840s, including neoclassical, garland style, art deco style and yellow gold.

Throughout history, Cartier's works have been influenced by art from around the world, including the aesthetics of China, India and Japan. One of the highlights of the exhibition is the recently acquired imperial jadeite bead necklace that once belonged to US socialite and heiress Barbara Hutton.

The necklace is made up of 27 jadeite beads cut from one block. They are believed to have come from 18th-century China. The green jade is adorned with a ruby clasp made by Cartier in 1934. The necklace has a bold combination of red and green, traditional Chinese colors.

Chinese visitors to the exhibition will be thrilled to see a lacquer vanity case with a scene from the Romance of the West Chamber, a classic Chinese love story, on its cover.

With a flora and fauna theme, the exhibition displays creations inspired by nature. The most splendid example is the Crocodile necklace, which was made as a special order for Mexican actress Maria Felix in the 1970s. The necklace consists of two crocodiles representing the actress' pets. One of the crocodiles is set in 1,023 yellow diamonds and the other 1,060 emeralds.

Throughout history, the house has had many famous clients, one of them being Simpson. Her panther clip brooch that features the animal on a sapphire cabochon became a symbolic piece for Cartier.

Also on display is the Cartier set of rubies and diamonds that includes a necklace, earrings and a bracelet. It was a present to Taylor from her then husband Mike Todd. It is exhibited alongside pictures of the late actress trying it on with the help of Todd.

There is also a section dedicated to "Mystery" clocks, which feature transparent watch faces.

Sichuan Museum has contributed artworks from the same period such as embroideries, jewelries and imperial items to complement the Cartier pieces.

Song Haiyang, jade expert from the Palace Museum, assisted in curating the show.

All items were made before the 1980s and none of them are available in the mass market today, says Xie Zhicheng, vice-director of Sichuan Museum.

"We put the Cartier pieces and the Chinese artworks together so that people can see how cultures in different countries are connected. They get to know more about French culture and will also gain a better understanding of our own," he says.

The exhibition is a very complete selection of the most precious pieces of Cartier jewelry, not in terms of value, but in terms of the powerful interpretation of the Cartier style, says Pierre Rainero, Cartier's director of image, style and heritage.

"The theme and the selection make this exhibition one of a kind. It's very interesting to present the two collections at the same time. It's away of putting the Cartier pieces in the frame of Chinese context," he says.

The brand started building the Cartier Collection in 1983, buying back historic pieces from auctions and private collectors. The collection now has more than 1,500 pieces including jewelry, watches, clocks and precious items.

Cartier Collection has been invited to exhibit 29 times in prestigious venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the British Museum in London, the Kremlin Museum in Moscow and the Grand Palais in Paris.

In China, it has been exhibited four times, in the Shanghai Museum, the Forbidden City Palace Museum, the Liaoning Provincial Museum and the Shanghai Power Station of Art contemporary art museum.

Contact the writer at sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 04/24/2015 page15)