Today mark the Anniversary of the Death of Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, who died on this day in 1986! The twice-divorced American for whom a King gave up his Throne, the Duchess possessed a massive jewellery collection of sumptuous modern pieces, which included this Cartier Flamingo Brooch!
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Designed as a flamingo in a characteristic pose, the plumage set with calibré-cut emeralds, rubies and sapphires, the beak set with a cabochon citrine and sapphire, the eye set with a similarly cut sapphire, the head, neck, body and hinged legs pavé-set with circular-, brilliant- and single-cut diamonds, signed to the clasp MONTURE Cartier.
From Cartier’s archives it is apparent that in order to make this jewel, the Duchess had several of her own pieces unmounted so that the stones could be re-used in this clip; jewels used included a necklace and four bracelets to supply the 42 calibré-cut rubies, the same number of sapphires and emeralds and 102 diamonds that make up this piece.
Together with the panther bracelet Jeanne Toussaint was also involved in the creations of this magnificent large flamingo clip, the designer being Peter Lemarchand. The Duchess of Windsor is known to have worn this brooch soon after acquiring it, when she is recorded in a photograph with the Duke wearing it as they arrived at the Ritz Hotel, Madrid, on his forty-sixth birthday on 23rd June 1940.
Together with the famed jewellery designer Peter Lemarchand, the Duke was heavily involved in the construction of this new brooch. He insisted the diamond leg of the Flamingo be moveable as he did not want it to dig into Wallis’ chest if she were to bend down.
“Lemarchand’s animal figures have vigour, plasticity and an inimitable sense of movement – thanks it must be said, to the virtuoso technique of the Cartier craftsmen who executed the designs and who could capture the articulate litheness of a great cat or emphasise the tail of a bird of paradise with a flexible platinum setting….“
Peter Lemarchand was a true designer in every sense of the word, taking directly from nature their salient elements, he had a true awareness of natural surroundings and wild animals. He spent much of his time painting in his Montparnasse studio. In 1948 Toussaint paid tribute to him commenting on, “our common love for animals and birds”; the creation of Cartier’s ‘Great Cats’ and amazing jewelled birds came out of this shared vision. Naturalistic jewels became gradually more stylised in the mid 1940’s. This flamingo is depicted at rest with one leg up and the feathers created from calibré-cut emeralds, rubies and sapphires are curved and raised, more three-dimensional rather than flat.
The Duchess of Windsor debuted the Cartier Flamingo Brooch on the Duke’s 46th Birthday at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid in June 1940, where the couple had fled occupied Paris.
The Cartier Flamingo Brooch was a symbolic choice worn by the Duchess of Windsor upon arrival in the Bahamas a few months later, where the Duke served as the Governor General for much of the Second World War.
Later that year, the Duchess of Windsor wore the Flamingo Brooch as the Duke and Duchess were greeted by a large crowd upon their arrival in Miami, which they would frequent during their tenure int he Bahamas.
The Duchess often wore the Cartier Flamingo Brooch during the years of the Second World War but was not pictured wearing the Brooch much in the years afterwards.
The Duchess of Windsor was last pictured wearing the Cartier Flamingo Brooch in her suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1970, which as sent to their secretary Suzanne Blum.
After the Duchess’ death in 1986, the Cartier Flamingo Brooch, together with the rest of her splendid jewellery collection, was sold at auction at Sotheby’s. The proceeds from the sale were donated to Pasteur Institute in Paris.
In 2011, the Duchess of Windsor’s Cartier Flamingo Brooch came up for auction at Sotheby’s in London, where it fetched £1,721,250 after an Estimate of 1,000,000 – 1,500,000 GBP.
The Cartier Flamingo Brooch was acquired by the Cartier Collection and has been exhibited around the world, currently in the Cartier Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Van Cleef & Arpels Tiara | Cartier Tiara | Queen Mary’s Pearl Necklace | Cartier Emerald Necklace | Cartier Flamingo Brooch | Cartier Ruby Bangle
The Beau Monde
