BOUCHERON: AN IMPORTANT ART NOUVEAU ENAMEL, SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND 'JUNO' PENDANT, FRANCE, CIRCA 1900

Footnotes

Literature
C.f: Alastair Duncan, The Paris Salons, 1895-1914, Vollume II, Jewellery, The Designers L-Z, The Antique Collectors' Club Ltd., Suffold, 1994, page 89, for a similar pendant.

Exhibition Paris, Exposition Universelle, 1900.


JUNO – AN ART NOUVEAU MASTERPIECE BY FRÉDÉRIC BOUCHERON
By Vivienne Becker

A masterpiece of Art Nouveau, the striking Juno pendant by Frédéric Boucheron embodies the reawakening of the goldsmith's art that was at the heart of the movement. Here Juno, Queen of the gods, and protector of womanhood and childbirth, triumphantly marks the birth of the 'art jewel'. While Art Nouveau was a brief but intense interlude in the long history of jewellery, the movement exerted a massive influence, elevating the jewel to the level of a true art form and establishing the concept of the individual artist-jeweller that was to shape the 20th and 21st century jewellery world.

Juno is a vitally important and historic jewel, not only for its sheer beauty, breathtaking workmanship and arresting iconography, but also for the fact that it was exhibited by Boucheron at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, a watershed moment marking the high point of Art Nouveau and the triumph of René Lalique (1860-1945), the poet goldsmith. At the same time Juno highlights the creativity of Frédéric Boucheron, (1830-1902), his quest for innovation and audacity in breaking with entrenched Parisian jewellery traditions.

The pendant depicts Juno, the powerful goddess wife of Jupiter (counterpart in Greek mythology of Hera, wife of Zeus), whose sacred attribute was the peacock, one of the most potent and emotive expressions of both the Aesthetic and Art Nouveau movements. According to legend, Hera had taken the eyes of the giant Argos and placed them in the tail feathers of the birds that she kept in her temple at Samos. The peacock, emblem of resurrection, symbolized the magnificence of nature, a major theme of Art Nouveau, but perhaps too the peacock represented the vaunting pride of Art Nouveau artists in breaking barriers and rocking the artistic status quo.

Rich in symbolism and storytelling, with an aura of the mysticism that pervaded the fin de siècle, Juno demonstrates the connection between Art Nouveau and the French Symbolist movement. The anthropomorphic design -half woman, half peacock – captured the spirit of metamorphosis, as the 19th century turned into the 20th, and as the female was transformed from subservience to strength and independence.

The depiction of Juno here is of an armed, warrior-like deity, as described by Virgil in the Aeneid, and yet there is a softness and serenity to the figure. Juno's head is sculpted in white jadeite, framed by loosened, gently flowing hair of deliquescent gold, set against the powerful halo-like headdress of peacock-feather-hued enamel. Her body morphs into the peacock itself, her torso, in its protective breastplate of purple enamel – referencing the royal stature of the peacock – embedded with a diamond-framed radiant yellow sapphire, is flanked by peacocks, their necks, heads and curling tail feathers channeling the sinuous line that defined Art Nouveau style and expressed its youthful energy. There is a suggestion here too of peacocks flanking the tree of life, an Eastern tradition, matched by the hint of Byzantine exoticism in the halo-encircled head and rich enamels. A cluster of three floating peacock feathers hang from the torso, suspending a drop shaped yellow sapphire to echo the center stone.

There is a certain classicism to the symmetry of the silhouette and composition that both emphasizes and runs counter to the startling anthropomorphic apparition of the peacock goddess. Just as there is a contrast between the trance-like features of the jadeite face and the preening ferocity of the birds. As in the finest Art Nouveau jewels, these contrasts build dramatic tension, and a compelling and thought-provoking narrative.

A key mission of Art Nouveau jewelers was to shift focus away from intrinsic value, from the supremacy of the diamond, onto artistry, to challenge the perception of the jewel as a showcase of wealth and social status. Materials were chosen purely for artistic contribution, and enamelwork, of sublime quality and finesse, came to define the best of Art Nouveau jewellery, as seen here to perfection. The supreme artistry of the Juno pendant was made possible by awe-inspiring craftsmanship: the shaded, painterly enamelwork is exquisite, likely the work of one of the leading enamellers of the day, group led by artists including Étienne Tourette or Eugène Feuillâtre. Boucheron had specialized in artistic enamels, notably working with the artist Charles Riffault from 1864-1875 to create plique à jour enamels of unrivalled beauty and delicacy. Similarly, Boucheron explored lapidary work, stone and wood carving, pushing skills to new levels, so that it is possible Juno's jadeite bust may have been sculpted by one of Boucheron's gifted collaborators, most likely Varangoz who is known to have worked on creations for the 1900 Exposition.

The technical brilliance of jewels showcased by Boucheron in 1900 was much praised at the time in contemporary art journals, just as the Maison's entire display attracted attention and critical acclaim and won Frédéric Boucheron a Grand Prix. Frédéric Boucheron embraced Art Nouveau, just as he had forged his own path of ingenuity and originality in both design and crafts skills, since establishing his business in 1858. Having always sought out the most talented craftsmen of the day to bring his ideas to life, and having always credited these specialists, he collaborated with leading artists and artisans, including the lapidary and designer Lucien Hirtz and designer and jeweler Georges le Saché, to create the masterworks exhibited at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.

The Juno pendant found its way, via an esteemed collection of antique and 20th century jewellery, into the hands and heart of Mrs. Van Auken, in California. It is the only Art Nouveau jewel in her eclectic collection of objects of curiosity and cultural and historical significance. She was drawn, it seems, by the bold, colourful vivacity of the Juno and its heart-stopping, dramatic image, the compelling anthropomorphism, the hint of decadence, the expression of powerful yet poignant femininity that captured the spirit of its moment in time, powered by hopes, dreams and fears, at the dawn of a new century, a new world. It's to be hoped that this astonishing jewel reignites the taste for Art Nouveau and a deeper appreciation of the true art of the jewel.