Jean Vendome. A quartz crystal, boulder opal and diamond pendant, of linear form, composed of...

Jean Vendome. A quartz crystal, boulder opal and diamond pendant, of linear form, composed of quartz crystal clusters and freeform boulder opals, with brilliant cut diamond accents, to concealed pendant loop, (original collar lacking), French marks, French maker's mark OT, length 13.5cm

Accompanied by a facsimile copy of a letter from Jean Vendome to Reuby Monk dated 24th February 1997, requesting the loan of this pendant for an exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History, Paris

Exhibited: 'Jean Vendome: un demi-siècle de création de bijoux comtemporains' at the Natural History Museum Lyons, 6 November 1999 - 27 February 2000, and included in the accompanying exhibition catalogue 'Jean Vendome artiste-joaillier' by Sophie Lefèvre

Provenance: Reuby Monk, thence by descent

Reuby Monk was a showgirl and dancer with the infamous Bluebell Girls at the Paris Lido. Having trained at the Rambert School based in the Mercury Theatre, she cut her teeth on the London pantomime scene, before moving to Paris to pursue her dreams of a career on the stage. Initially dancing at the Palladium, she accompanied a friend to an audition at the Lido and was herself picked to join the company. She stayed with the Bluebells for over five years, and starred as ‘Mademoiselle Lido’ (under her then stage name of Reuby Bruce) when the Bluebell Girls opened their show at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas in 1958. During her time in Paris, Reuby became well acquainted with many of the Parisian artists and high society of the day, including Jean Vendome who made the current lot, along with a number of other pieces, for Reuby.

Jean Vendome (1930-2017) was a pioneer of the 1960s art jewellery movement. Born in 1930, his family moved to the suburbs of Paris in 1939, and at the age of 13 he began an apprenticeship in his uncle’s jewellery workshop, where he learned the fundamentals of the craft. By the age of 18 he had opened his own workshop, supplying jewels to major jewellery houses and exhibiting under his own name at fairs, and in 1950 his first boutique was opened, at 81 boulevard Voltaire.
Vendome devoted himself tirelessly to his craft, working six days a week for seventy years. Over his prolific career, he created an estimated thirty thousand pieces, along with countless drawings. Shaped by post-war art movements, he reimagined jewellery design through abstract forms and the innovative use of raw minerals. He regarded minerals as sculptures in their own right and crafted unique art jewels that balanced architectural precision with organic form. Vendome indulged his passion for mineralogy, travelling far and wide to source minerals and gems to work with, visiting fairs in Tucson, Arizona and Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in eastern France. He conceived each piece on paper, sometimes creating a mock-up, before bringing his designs to life. Every piece originated as a sketch, sometimes followed by a mock-up, before being bough to life in his workshop. In his own words, “a piece of jewellery is a work of art, not a consumer product.”
Vendome’s work was included in the landmark 1961 exhibition Modern Jewelry at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London, and has also been exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, Lyon’s Museum of Natural History, and at L’ÉCOLE Paris in 2019.