Cartier

Phyllis Frank, neé Francatelli

Descent to the current owner

Musée du Petit-Palais Exhibition Catalogue, L’Art de Cartier, 2000, pg. 156 for an example of Cartier’s stylised flowerhead motif from this period

Nadine Coleno, Amazing Cartier Design, 2009, pg. 197 for a similar example

Lots 41 to 47 form a private collection of jewels given to Phyllis Frank (neé Francatelli), b.1892 - d.1972, by her New York financier husband, Jesse Frank, during the 1920s and 1930s.

The collection exemplifies the geometry and design synonymous with Cartier during this seminal point in the firm’s history. The jewels set with diamonds, sapphires, and lapis lazuli, reflect the innovation and creativity for which Cartier was renowned during the Art Deco movement.

Phyllis Frank was one of the original models for Lucile Ltd - Lady Duff Gordon’s fashion line - arguably the first global couture brand with salons across three countries. Duff Gordon is considered the first designer to utilise the catwalk, training her models, including Francatelli, to pose and walk in ‘mannequin parades’, a precursor to the modern-day fashion show.

The evocative photographs of the Lucile campaigns from 1915 to 1920 demonstrate Francatelli’s natural ease, elegance and wit in front of the camera. Lady Duff Gordon focused her designs on the individual character of each model, encouraging each woman to wear the clothes in a way that reflected how they carried and saw themselves, rather than separating the clothes and the design from the women who wore them, as personified by the shots of Francatelli from this period.

Frank’s collection of jewellery reflects the change in women’s fashion from Lucile Ltd’s feminine designs, to the androgynous dress of the 1920s, enhanced by flatter, geometric jewellery. The evolution of fashion, across dress and adornment, reflected the newfound freedom women experienced in the post war world, something that Lucile's ‘mannequins’, such as Phyllis Francatelli, were at the forefront of.

This hinged bangle, with a pair of detachable diamond flowerhead clips, is not only a versatile jewel, but also an unusual example of this design by Cartier. Typically, this style of hinged bangle, with detachable diamond clips, was decorated with black enamel, (see Judy Rudoe, Cartier 1900 – 1939, 2000, pg.334 and Musée du Petit-Palais Exhibition Catalogue, L’Art de Cartier, 2000, pg.155). Instead, here the bangle has a polished yellow gold finish. 

Please note the image has been provided by and is under copyright of the Victoria and Albert Museum.