André Chervin’s highly intricate decorative objects are on public display for the first time. His daughter Carole talks us through the process of their creation.

 Welcome to the Jewelry Connoisseur Podcast, and now your host, Sonia Esther Soltani.

Welcome to this new episode of the Jewelry Connoisseur Podcast. I'm your host, Sonia Esther Soltani, and today we're going to talk for the first time about objet d'art. You have to listen to find out what they are, but I can already tell you they've been made by Calvin French Jewelers in New York from the imagination of André Chervin, one of the co-founders of the firm, and today we have his daughter Carole to explain his creative process, his sources of inspiration, his work with his artisans in their workshop over years, and the artistry that went into every single piece, and these pieces are currently on display in New York at the Historical Society, so don't miss it and listen to Carole telling us about her father's work.

Hi Carole, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast today to discuss an exhibition of your father's work, Enchanting Imagination, that's being held until the 17th of March, if I'm correct.

You are correct, but I have some late-breaking news, which is the museum has asked to extend the exhibition. So it will go later than March 17th.

That is absolutely wonderful news. And I think after this podcast, there will be even more people who really want to see the beautiful creations of your father. So most people will know who's Carvin French, but I would like you to tell us a bit more about how did Carvin French started.

And what a lot of people know is that, the Maison has been creating, jewelry for Verdura, Tiffany, Bulgari. so we'll go back to the jewelry a bit more. But first this objet d'art, what does that mean, objet d'art? Obviously you, gave us the background, the French background of your father and his partner, but what is an objet d'art? I think that's what we would like to, talk about today. We're going to mention the jewelry but this exhibition is really about these objets d'art.

Yes, this exhibition at the Museum of the New York Historical Society brings out to the public, these objets d'art that were made at Carvin French, with my father overseeing them, by the very same jewelers, lapidaries, polishers, setters, artisans, that were making the jewelry. But, the objets d'art, which I don't know if everybody knows what that means, but an objet d'art is, and I look at a dictionary definition, is an object of artistic worth or curiosity, especially a small object. And we use the French phrase objet d'art even in, English because English just simply doesn't have an equivalent, that really captures the artistic, nature of an objet d'art. So these objets d'art were my father's passion, really. he loved making jewelry, of course, he found that he could take his, experience, his talents, and the experience and talents of, the people working in the workshop and push them just a little bit further, and explore a little bit more difficult even, areas by going into the unknown. that meant making little. boudoir lamps, or little table clocks, or even salt and pepper shakers, cigarette holders, and beautiful, flower bouquets, or, bonsai trees, there's animals, anything that you can think of, anything that my father thought of, he could bring to life through the objet d'art without any client to answer to because these objets d'art were straight from his imagination and the imagination of the people working with him as well. And he thought, he'd sell them later. But for now, they were strictly out of his passion, his artistic leanings and his artistic desires.

well, people have different opinions on that. It's always in the eye of the beholder, but I see, there's more things alike about them than there are different. So they use some of the same materials. there are precious gems in some of them. They're also semi precious and there are minerals. For instance, lapis lazuli, figures in a lot of the objets d'art, it's one of my father's favorite stones. he also used it in the jewelry. you take a lapidary can carve a ring. out of lazuli by putting all sorts of beautiful designs or ridges on it. That same lapidary can do it in a larger size in a clock. and there are two clocks that feature lapis lazuli. there's also jade. Carvin French made many things with precious jade, particularly for the Asian market. And then there are jade, pieces in, the objets d'art, such as these two lamps that feature, moss and snow jade abat jour or lampshades, and that's not going to be the, exact same green apple color imperial jade that you might make a small ring out of, but it is just as beautiful in my father's eye, to have the white with the green shading, through it. And they took advantage of the, formations of the green. in the white and highlighted them with the lapidary carving, floral carvings, a bird, a hummingbird in one of them, a dragon, dragonfly in another. And, parallel between the jewelry work and the objet d'art work is the interplay between my father, who keeps the artistic vision going and technical as well, since he has both, by working with the artisans. . But the artisans give back as well, of course, and it's a feedback loop in creativity along the way. So, for instance, I talked about the freedom that my father had in making the objets d'art. Well, that included the freedom to change his mind and to, maybe in the process of making something change the direction of the design and not stick to an original design. With jewelry commissions, you have an original design that you agree, upon with the customer and you stick to it pretty much. If something occurs that you as a jeweler, you feel is not going to suit the piece well, and you want to deviate from the design, well, that's going to require a discussion and permission with the client who, ordered it. But with these objets d'art, my father was at complete liberty to change whatever direction, and often they did. So one example of that is with the jade, the Moss and Snow jade abat jour. the lapidary was carving one of the shades when he discovered that if he had stuck to the plan, he would have cut off a particularly vibrant chunk of green, vibrant green apple color in the jade. And it would have been. just cut off and lost. So he called my father into the workshop and said, I want to show you this and let's figure out what you want to do. And he showed him that that, piece, my father said, absolutely not. We don't want to sacrifice that color. So we're going to change the shape. of this shade to incorporate that beautiful vein of green apple color, and in fact, even make it a highlight of the piece. So if you look at this particular lamp that I'm talking about, you'll see a butterfly sticking up from the side of the shade And that butterfly is in this beautiful green apple color jade. And that is the result of that interplay, back and forth discussion between the lapidary and, my father.

That's a great example of, this collaboration. And there's a beautiful, picture in the exhibition, and I think also in the book that I will show later. But, I think it's, New Year's card from the workshop and this is an illustration and you see all the crafts people and you see your father as a conductor. And I think that's such a nice representation of you need all the different instruments in the orchestra to make it work and your father. just directing getting the best out of these amazingly talented craftspeople.

That's exactly right. Getting the best out of people, supporting them, giving them the confidence that they actually can do something and then challenging them to go even further was something that my. father was excellent at doing.

I think also something very interesting is that these pieces were not created just like a piece of jewelry, a commission, you have a certain deadline. Um, they were created over years, some of them five years, 10 years, even longer because they were made in between commissions for the big houses. So t ell us, I mean, this is just your father always had this, little chats with some of

He always had these objets in mind, even if they were out of sight. So, they could have been in the back of a safe, but if, there was a particular setter or jeweler or, lapidary polisher who had two hours free in between, work on commissioned projects. He would pull out one of the objet d'art that was in the works, maybe he hadn't pulled it out in a year or more, and say, okay, let's continue carving this floral design or, putting together, the lamps, for instance. They had to create the electrical, channels for the electricity to go through some very difficult minerals., for instance, in one of the lamps, the wire has to go through invisibly, I'll say, because he, my father liked mystery, but it had to go through, rock crystal quartz and then through a fluorite and then up into the armature of the top of the lamp and as my father says, fluorite, as soon as it sees a drill coming, it cracks. So, this is a very delicate, operation. So he might only trust one person in the, shop to do that. And if that person isn't free for two years, then it won't get worked on. Or if that person goes off and moves to another country, it sort of stops work until my father finds someone else who he feels can do it. Or in the case of one of the objets, until that person moved away and 13 years later came back and resumed something. So these objets, they don't have finite dates on them or definite dates on them because they were worked on for so long and even after something was so called finished. My father's brain would keep imagining what else he wanted to do to improve it and he might pull out something that was otherwise thought to be finished and, work on it some more. By the way, the objets d'art are more than 360 degrees, 360 degrees in three dimensions. So, the bottoms of pieces that sit on a table are just as beautiful as the tops. And if we look at a couple of pieces together, I'll point that out as we go.

I love it. And also, when I was going through the book from the catalog, it feels like a biography of your father, his taste, his sense of humor, some objects, you know, like the strawberries, memories of, French childhood and fraises des bois, There's a lot of witticism in the pieces. Can you spotligh t a few of these objets for our listeners and, then to encourage them, I'm sure to go and see the full exhibition.

Yeah, definitely the sense of humor figures into the objets d'art. that is another parallel with the jewelry. There, if my father had his way, which you don't always have when you're just taking orders. But, uh, he would often suggest putting in some whimsy or some humor into even expensive, fine jewelry. he doesn't like taking things too very, very seriously, and especially in the objets d'art.

I love this, not taking himself seriously and also being funny and what the catalog says that he made a lot of pieces to entertain you and your brother as well as children. And this one piece, I really like you know, the two, thieves in the bath. Can you tell us about this one? Because it's just wonderful.

Sure. his sense of humor is often, his objets are often, um, accompanied by a story that he had in his head while making the pieces or before he designed the pieces. and I say designed, loosely, because my father would, sketch and doodle. He's very talented at that. But, usually a piece did not have a full blown design before they set out to work on it. they would maybe have a sketch. Maybe he would have the in house designer at Carvin French design it, but not in the sense of a formal watercolor or something that you might have for a client that wants a formal design. And he, made these pieces of the Two Thieves, with this story in mind. He says, there were these two very hapless, pretty unsuccessful bank robbers, and this is an old time, wild, wild west. And they one day were in a town and they held up a bank or two, but they were completely unsuccessful and were laughed at. And all that happened to them at the end of the day, they were tired, hungry, and dirty. And they went to the local inn and asked for a room. And the innkeeper said, Absolutely not. Not until you clean up a bit. I'm not letting you in one of my rooms looking like that. And so he picked them up and plunked them into a bathtub. Clothes on, hats still on. And the objet d'art is this bathtub with the two scoundrels, sitting in there with their, clothes on and their hats on. The hats are made each one out of a single piece carved out of, rock crystal quartz. One is lemon quartz. And their, heads they are gold, but they have white agate mustache or a black agate, or an onyx mustache Their hands out of the tub looking like they're not happy at all to be thrown in the tub. And you see the water. which is oxidized silver, but it's oxidized in a very shiny way. So it looks like black water, which is black because of how dirty these scoundrels were. the, tub itself, my Father wanted it to be enameled, as all tubs are, but they had to do it several times over because, the first time they did it white and it looked much too gleaming and new and clean. my father imagined this as an old tub, as you can see by the design of the feet and the faucets. And so they did it over again until they got a more, dingy ivory color for the enamel of the tub and the side, I mean, the humor is in, it already, but it gets even better when, you realize that each one of these scoundrels can be twisted a little bit and pulled out of the tub and you take off their hats and flip open their heads. And they are a salt and pepper shaker. fully functional. I mean, you turn it upside down and you see where you can put in the salt and where you can put in the pepper. And so my father just loved the idea of bringing that, artistry to, the household and to the table and, make people laugh. He did other salt and pepper shakers too. which were sold for, clients that were, more serious because the client didn't want as much, humor as my father did when he did it for himself, but there's another set, there are two other sets that are mushrooms in, beautiful, Chinese turquoise, or, chrysoprase, or coral, white opal for the tops of the mushrooms, and then enameled gold, tufts of grass around the mushrooms. and the mushrooms, sit in a caddy, an individual caddy, with a little handle, and on the handle of each one they have putti.. Little putti climbing up the handles just to make it more humorous.

oh, the details are absolutely extraordinary. And, I wanted also to, point out, to remind people, this objets d'art are completely functional. It's like every single one of them, when it's a lamp, it's really a working lamp. When it's a clock, it's a working clock. So it looks absolutely stunning, but it works as well, which is absolutely fantastic. And there's one of the lamps with the frogs and it's like these rubies. . And you think, how long did it take to even be able to, polish it exactly the right angle exactly to make this completely seamless creation. And that is a lamp. I mean, just mind blowing.

The lamps, also are playful. Not only that they have, for instance, frogs climbing on them. but that, my father wanted to have a secret way of turning the lamp on and off. for each one. So it's not just a regular switch on the cord or there's no little pole like a regular lamp. He hid the functionality of the switches. So for instance, on that lamp that you're talking about The Frogs' Rubies or the Rubies des Grenouilles, the way that you switch it on is you tickle switch underneath one of the frog's chins and that turns the lamp on and off and when it goes on it does set those slices of rubies on the shade really on fire because the tiny little bulbs inside the lamp just illuminate through the translucency of the, rubies. And you ask, how was it done? I mean, it was done over many, many, many years. the lapidary had to slice and polish the rubies in a matrix. fit them just right, but not only in two, planes, an X and a Y, but in three, they had to worry about the depth, the thickness of each of the rubies as well, because This rough ruby, of course, the different parts of it have different saturation of color, different impurities, and so they're going to have different levels of translucency. So when you have a piece that is not very translucent, you need to cut it thinner, thinner, thinner, to get it to not be completely opaque. Then when you have a piece that is, um, less saturated, maybe has less impurities, then you can leave it thicker. If you cut it thinner, you might lose the beautiful red, color. So this is, you know, science, engineering, math, and artistry and a lot of, hard work and a lot of mistakes that along the way that just get left aside in learning process.

Really, it's fascinating. You can spend hours just looking at every single detail, because they're quite small pieces as well. So the intricacy of it, it's like, you know, when you look at a beautiful piece of jewelry, but it's, really phenomenal. And wanted to go back to jewelry because some of them, one of them is, an objet a brooch as well. This ostrich is just beautiful. So tell us how you move from the objet to the jewelry this one.

Yeah, I think, um, the Lady Ostrich, who is definitely a lady, actually seems to be a favorite of the curators and the staff at the New York Historical Society. They've sort of adopted her as sort of mascot of the museum, and, she is. Let's say small for an object, but large for a piece of jewelry, so she's about this tall, Maybe about 10 centimeters? she has a beautiful pink, pearl tail feathers, and in between the pink pearl. tail feathers, she's set with, fancy yellow diamonds, and, she is also wearing a black diamond set bow around her neck, which just indicates she is ready to go out on the town. And she's a very sweet and happy face as well, but she's sitting on, um, a, mineral that's sort of a rough cut, but polished in some, in some ways, a black stone, and you can remove her from that foundation and wear her as a brooch. So it's a way, you know, I think that a lot of people are frustrated that when their jewelry is not being worn, it's just in, in the dark drawer. But this one allows you to enjoy this piece of jewelry all the time. If you can display her outside.

It's just a beauty. I can see how she became the mascot. And for people who will see the exhibition, will they also see jewelry there?

Yes, the museum and I, worked closely in the creation of this, exhibition with the, curator Deborah Schmidt Bach, we felt from the start that there should be jewelry in the exhibition as well in order to situate and give context to Carvin French Jewelers because primarily Carvin French is about the jewelry. And they chose, uh, it was difficult to choose what to put in the exhibition, but there was different reasons for the different pieces. Some of them, Showing the ties between the objets d'art and the, jewelry. For instance, there's a Muguet des Bois brooch by Verdura made by Carvin French. There's an enamel frog brooch by Verdura made by Carvin French, that have relationships to pieces in the, exhibition. There's also a Donald Claflin designed Tiffany, bracelet that has an abundance of, leaves and, foliage as well as strawberries, made out of coral in it. And that is. mirrored in the objet d'art of a strawberry bush. As you said, my father was reminiscing and in fact, always still to this day, reminisces about the wonderful taste of the, strawberries and the fraises des bois in his, childhood in France. And these, strawberries are, made out of, coral. And punctuated with little, gold dots for the seeds, both in the Tiffany piece and in the objet d'art, my father is a great admirer of nature and that's apparent in the jewelry, as well as the objet d'art. Both plants and trees and flowers. animals, and also fruit. And, so he studies nature. He's fascinated by it. for instance, it wouldn't be unusual at all to sit down for lunch with him and to find him counting the seeds on a strawberry, to see if they all have the same number or if they're all arranged the same way. And then he transports that. knowledge into the work, into the art. The other jewelry in the exhibition is Bulgari, pieces that were, made at, at Carvin French. and there are a couple of pieces that were made for individual clients that came to Carvin French over the years that show as a parallel in the beautiful lapidary work, and the three dimensionality. that is brought not only to the objet, but also to the jewelry. Whenever, Carvin French, I think one of the hallmarks of Carvin French pieces is, that three dimensionality, that organic shape, the movement. Whether it's en tremblant or not, a sense of movement in the, organic pieces that it doesn't just look dead and heavy, but looks like, it's alive. So, I think that shows in some of the jewelry that's, that's shown in the exhibition as well.

So thank you so much, Carole, for this wonderful overview of your father's work, this exhibition that is being held a bit longer than we thought. So people who are in New York, who are coming to New York in the coming months, I really invite them to, come and admire each piece and to learn about Carvin French, especially this part of your father's work, people who are not able to attend the show. There's a catalogue, which, you know, we'll show. I'll show it for our YouTube listeners, but we'll show it to other people as well. And, how could people learn more about your father's work, if they don't have the opportunity to attend the exhibition?

Well, I, do commend the, museum for the catalog. It's more than just a catalog with photos. it's called the same title as the exhibition, Enchanting Imagination. but it also has, essays in it that give the history of my father and his family, which is very interesting. as well as of Carvin French and the various designers and retail clients that Carvin French has worked with over the years. So, I would recommend that people can buy that, that book Enchanting Imagination on the website for the New York Historical Society on their shop or on Amazon or it's available from a lot of booksellers.

That's wonderful. But really, I hope most people will be able to, see the exhibition. Thank you so much, Carole, for your time today. It was fascinating. And really, it's just really different from everything we've covered so far. We've covered different times in jewelry, but we never covered objets d'art and what objets d'art we've discussed today.

Thank you so much.

It's been my pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much.

Thank you for listening to the Jewelry Connoisseur podcast by Rappaport Jewelry Pro. This episode was hosted by Sonia Ester Soltani and produced and edited by Vanina You can find all our episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and read more about diamonds, colored gemstones, high jewelry designers, estate jewelry, and the latest jewelry trends on Rappaport. com slash Jewelry Connoisseur. Please subscribe to get all our new episodes and if you liked this one, leave us a review.