PERENNIAL SPECTACLE: CARTIER AT THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

Extensive and eponymously named, Cartier – staged at the Victoria & Albert MuseumSouth Kensington – is an ode to the artisanal. Nestled within the subterranean Sainsbury Gallery, the exhibition is the UK’s first display of archival Cartier in almost three decades, featuring hundreds of items native to the Parisian jewellery firm. Today, Cartier stands as a titan of the luxury goods industry, bolstered by an ever-expanding catalogue of elite clientele. Behind this intergenerational monopoly, however, there lies a steadfast ethos of craftsmanship. Equipped with an emphasis on storytelling and narratives tailored to individual objects, this major showcase sustains an impression of spectacle, allowing attendees a glimpse behind Cartier’s gilded curtain.

Navigating the exhibition feels comparable to tracing the amorphous face of a Cartier Crash watch. The space at large possesses a near-fluid quality: displays are less adhered to a rigid chronology and may be visited in an individual’s chosen order. Rooms and undulating corridors are populated by attendees as they flit from one case to another, absorbing spectacle after spectacle. Crystalline clocks and Westernised Japanese inrō neighbour bow-shaped brooches and bodice ornaments, rubies and sapphires bleed into jade and peridot. Though undoubtably expansive, the resulting flurry of precious metals and gemstones never overwhelms. Monochromatic black or white cabinets magnify the lustre of their contents without detracting from each item’s intricacy. Mirrors, tactfully placed alongside certain objects, reveal facets that would otherwise remain obscured. These mirrors – subtle storytelling components in themselves – also preserve an impression of tactility, something too often lost behind the red tape of exhibition spaces. This idea is most apparent when viewing items like the Ancient Egyptian-inspired vanity case located in Cartier’s opening room. Produced in 1925 – a handful of years after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb – this piece is a surviving vestige of early twentieth century Egyptomania, a societal fixation on Ancient Egyptian aesthetics. Diminutive yet detailed, the vanity case is strikingly elaborate: a carved bone lid, lined with jewels along each edge, rests atop a compartment decorated with lotus flowers and sphinxes. Beneath, the case’s accompanying mirror reveals a hidden base bearing hieroglyph-style illustrations. Herein lies the crux of Cartier’s mastery: objects, once ordinary, are elevated from accessories to treasured artefacts.

Words – Grace Pritchard