A SMALL GOLD-MOUNTED HARDSTONE BONBONNIÈRE, LOUIS-GABRIEL JARRY, PARIS, THIRD QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Louis-Gabriel Jarry first entered marks for la bijouterie on 3 December 1849 from 32 rue des Deux-Portes-Saint-Sauveur and withdrew them on 4 July 1879. Known as Gabriel Jarry ainé, he had learnt the trade as a foreman for Caillot, but in 1848 took over an old-established business founded in 1826 by Monthiers which specialised in rather ordinary silver cane handles, snuff boxes and lorgnettes. Jarry raised the standard of production, producing mainly gold smallwork. He won a silver medal at the 1855 Paris Exposition and again saw success in London in 1862. He supplied the main retailers in Paris as well as receiving several large commissions from the Far East before ceding the business to Georges Jacta, his designer, in 1879. (Henri Vever, La bijouterie française au XIXe siècle, Paris, 1906, vol. III, pp. 548-550)