Kashmira Bulsara honours bro Freddie Mercury

Art Deco fans will enjoy Sarah Hue-Williams’ book A Kind of Magic: Art Deco Vanity Cases  (2017). It was written in collaboration with Peter Edwards, a London deal­er in C20th Art Deco jewellery. A Kind of Magic brought together the personalities, designers and work­shops who created the art objects. The book included photographs of 48 Jazz Age vanity cases from the 1920s-30s, based on  the Kashmira Bulsara Collection.

 

A Kind of Magic: Art Deco Vanity Cases

written by Sarah Hue-Williams and Peter Edwards

After 1918, euph­or­ia spread across Europe and America. Tech­no­logy was changing life; aeroplanes, speeding cars and luxury ocean lin­ers were making the world a smaller place with improv­ed commun­icat­ions. For those who could afford it, fashion was elegant and avant-garde, based on Paris Expo of 1925 and Art Deco, and then on the U.S, inc Holly­wood. The eman­cip­­at­ed woman of means wanted newly-designed jewel­lery and acc­ess­or­ies, decorated with modern mot­ifs to reflect her new stat­us. Cocktail parties had to be elegant.

Kashmira Bulsara (b1954), sister of Queen’s lead singer Far­r­okh Bulsara/Freddie Mercury, originally bought a frost­ed rock cryst­al card case dep­icting a Japanese weeping willow applied in black enamel and rose-cut diamonds. This launched her love affair with Art Deco vanity cases. Much later Kashmira gave her ent­ire coll­ect­ion to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, as a tribute to her late brother. Thank you, V & A, for the photos.

Freddie Mercury studied art at Isleworth Polytechnic West Lon­d­on and graphic art & design at Ealing Art College. He certainly designed heral­dic arms, and album-cover designs, for Queen. What I did not know that Freddie was fascinated by Jap­an­ese beauty.

The collection’s 49 Deco vanity cases took inspiration from Persian, Anc­ient Egyptian, Chinese and Japanese art, featuring rich­ly coloured hard stones, enamel and lacquer. They were made by Cart­ier, Lacloche, Van Cleef & Arpels, or other French jew­ellers.

Kashmira bought Paris-made Lacloche pieces from London retailer Peter Edwards. For 20 years Edwards helped her shape a fine collection with an Art Deco focus. Art Deco was revolutionary in the 1920s and 30s: the colours, designs, motifs and materials used were very modern. Of course 1920s and 1930s speed excited everyone, but women in particular revelled in new free­dom and new fash­ions. Make up became more ess­ential, applied in public if nec­essary. So portable van­ity cases became necessary.

Documenting her collection focused on craftsman­ship. These vanity cases were miniature masterpieces; they looked scul­­ptural and had a practical purpose. Many were cylindrical, easy to carry. The signific­ance of card cases came from several elements. Using rock crys­tal was an art deco speciality. The pieces were simple yet soph­isticated and stylish. And the lapidary technique was based on a body made from onyx rather than enamel. Despite being only about 12cm in length, these cases felt heavy.  

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1. Card case with frosted rock crystal body, lapis lazuli panels to top & base, Japanese weeping willow applied in black enamel & rose-cut diamonds. Lacloche Paris, c1920-5

The vanity case, a special jewelled fashion accessory, was de­signed and mostly made in Paris by crafts­men who had very special talents. These artists und­er­stood that the fashionable mod­ern woman did not want to carry around a big bag; she needed a small compact containing her lipstick, powder, cigarettes, lighter, theatre tickets and keys. Made of precious met­als like platinum and gold, with inlays of lacquer, mot­her of pearl, gems, jade or enamel, these items took HOURS of craftsmanship to make. Natur­ally they were very expen­sive, to be shown off at wealthy gatherings.

2. 18-carat gold vanity case, lid set with a carved fruit shaped turquoise stone in gold setting and applied with black lacquer and Art Deco gold inlay, Cartier Paris, early 1920s.

3. Gold vanity case with laque burgaute panels, Cartier, Paris c1925.

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4. Double-sided case with onyx body, makeup & cigarette sections, ivory panel and pencil. Marzo Paris, c1920-3

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5. Miniature vanity case with black and cream decoration, and spaces for rouge and lipstick, and a hidden gold key in a recessed catch. Cartier NY, 1930.

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6. Vanity case with pale blue enamel decoration on the centre panel, fluted lapis lazuli and jade to the sides with baguette-cut diamond highlights. Van Cleef & Arpels, c1925. 

7. One vanity case was made by Cartier of New York and belonged to Con­suelo Vanderbilt. She had been born into a life of wealth and comfort, including regular Eur­opean travel. The black, cream and gold decoration was chic, and note the diamond-edged central floral motif for a feminine element. Some­times Art Deco com­bined blues and greens, used exotic, non-European mat­erials and cut diamonds in the baguette shape. What is today’s value of the vanity cases? 

A rectangular 18-carat gold case, set with a pyramid shaped jade, rows of diamonds and emeralds set in platinum, the box is applied with black lacquer (1920-5). $18,600

A French Cartier 18-karat gold vanity case, the rectangular lid set with a carved fruit shaped turquoise stone in gold setting, the box is app­l­ied with black lacquer and Deco gold inlay. It appeared at the Expos­ition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs (Paris 1925). $24,200

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8. A 14 carat gold rectangular compact, hin­ged clasp set with baguette diamonds, the box is part­ially dec­orat­ed with black enamel, 1923. Hall­marked for Tiffany then retailed by Cartier, it appeared in the Paris Exposition, 1925. $19,200