Émile-Désiré Philippe

Émile-Désiré Philippe (1834-1880) was a 19^th century French jeweler who created interesting pastiches of jewels with Egyptian motifs. He ismentioned in Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary by Hans Nadelhoffer in the chapter titledPharaohs, Sphinxes and Pyramids. 

Nadelhoffer notes that Philippe was a pupil of Jules Wièse père, another distinguished French jeweler known for his extraordinary work in archaeological revival styles. At the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878, Philippe exhibited an entire parure which he then gifted that same year to the Musée des Arts Decoratifs. This parure is illustrated in Egyptomania: Egypt in Western Art, 1730-1930, by Jean-Marcel Humbert, Michael Pantazzi and Christiane Ziegler, pages 477-479, no. 323. For another example by Philippe, see Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels, New York , April 19, 2016, Lot 218.

The bracelet offered here is a rare example by Philippe entirely mounted in gold. The various elements are each symbols commonly found in ancient Egyptian religion. The scarab beetle represented the eternal cycle of life; the djed pillar represented stability and was commonly associated with Ptah, the creator god, and Osiris, known as god of the after-life; the ankh was a hieroglyphic symbol used in Egyptian art and writing meaning ‘life’; and nefer was a hieroglyphic symbol which could mean beautiful, pleasant or good. The material that binds these symbols together is gold, which the ancient Egyptians believed to be a divine substance possessing magical powers. French Egyptologist Christiane Zeigler postulated “The jeweler (Philippe) most assuredly would have consulted an Egyptologist and perhaps he himself had even handled pieces of Pharaonic jewelry”. His designs are indeed beautiful, pleasant and good, and appear to have been inspired by a profound understanding of Egyptian art and symbols.