Mademoiselle Chanel And The Fascination Of The East
Chanel Joaillerie presents its new High jewelry collection in Paris with 59 pieces inspired by Chinese Coromandel screens
«I have loved Chinese screens since I was 18 years old. I almost fainted with joy when, going into a Chinese shop, I saw a Coromandel for the first time» (citation "Chanel Solitaire”, Claude Delay - Gallimard - 1983).
Inspired by the minute and suggestive decorations on the Coromandel screens that covered the walls at Chanel's house, the company's new fine jewelry collection comprises fifty-nine items of which twenty-four are unique. Known in China since the Han Dynasty, the screens arrived in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, immediately meeting with enormous success. So much so that they attracted the attention of Mademoiselle Chanel, who, thanks to these particular oriental objects, discovered and refined her taste for Chinese art. It seems, in fact, that she collected over thirty, using them in all the rooms in her home as if they were wallpaper.
The jewelry in the new collection have been re-elaborated around three main features that characterize the engravings sculptured onto the screens: flowers, animals and minerals, while the gems have been accurately selected to re-propose the particular colors of the Coromandel lacquers. The technique and art of lacquer, together with silk and porcelain represent one of China's greatest contributions to universal art, which is now making a comeback thanks to the secret and precious universe of Gabrielle Chanel.
Inspired by the minute and suggestive decorations on the Coromandel screens that covered the walls at Chanel's house, the company's new fine jewelry collection comprises fifty-nine items of which twenty-four are unique. Known in China since the Han Dynasty, the screens arrived in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, immediately meeting with enormous success. So much so that they attracted the attention of Mademoiselle Chanel, who, thanks to these particular oriental objects, discovered and refined her taste for Chinese art. It seems, in fact, that she collected over thirty, using them in all the rooms in her home as if they were wallpaper.
The jewelry in the new collection have been re-elaborated around three main features that characterize the engravings sculptured onto the screens: flowers, animals and minerals, while the gems have been accurately selected to re-propose the particular colors of the Coromandel lacquers. The technique and art of lacquer, together with silk and porcelain represent one of China's greatest contributions to universal art, which is now making a comeback thanks to the secret and precious universe of Gabrielle Chanel.
