Tea at Trianon: An Unlikely Coffee Bean Inspiration

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, July 6, 2023

An Unlikely Coffee Bean Inspiration

From Artnet News:

For Cartier’s grand reintroduction this month of its Grain de Café jewelry collection, the luxury maison channeled the golden age of cinema and the chic opulence of Cóte d’Azur in the 1950s. Originally launched in 1938, the collection came into being after Cartier’s legendary creative director Jeanne Toussaint found unlikely inspiration in a coffee bean. Decades later, Grain de Café became a major hit when the screen siren Grace Kelly wore the creations—including several given to her by Prince Rainier III for their wedding—on a French Riviera jaunt. After its 1960s peak, Grain de Café stopped being produced and the series became coveted collectors’ pieces. Cartier has now brought the collection back with a reimagined, limited-edition suite of new designs and a reissue of a 1955 necklace. A study in sparkle and movement, the intricate pieces—which require 30 craftsmen to create—combine sensuality and mobility.
To mark the occasion, the heritage house enlisted photographer and filmmaker Alex Prager—who has captivated art and fashion audiences with her canny takes on cinematic tropes—to direct a glamorous campaign harking back to classic Hollywood productions. Across the series, a bewitching blonde played by Elle Fanning embodies the insouciant spirit of the era while also recalling Alfred Hitchcock’s leading ladies. Thanks to her distinctive style defined by elaborately staged cinematic scenes, Prager—who has been steeped in the Los Angeles film industry since childhood—was a natural fit to devise this modern riff on midcentury motion pictures and the South of France.
Prager’s aesthetic also resonates with the codes of the collection. Mixing engraved gold beads with inlaid obsidian, princess-cut diamonds, and cabochon rubellites, Grain de Café is designed to elevate everyday motifs with precious materials and exceptional craftsmanship. By leveraging her expertise with light, Prager brilliantly illuminated Cartier’s exquisite jewelry and what it represents: celebrating beauty in the unexpected, as Toussaint always sought—even in an object as ordinary as a coffee bean. (Read more.)