The bandeau is a triumph of Art Deco jewellery manufacture in the capital. One of the finest surviving London-made multi-gem jewels, it is an object of pre-eminent importance to the history of jewellery in England between the two World Wars. The bandeau was made by English Art Works, a company established in 1922 and deliberately staffed with British craftsmen by Cartier in response to depression-era unemployment in the jewellery industry. It is a documented and dated product of a great jewellery house, whose rich colour combinations in multi-gem jewels represent the beautiful and creative flowering of Art Deco jewellery, a period justly celebrated for the distinction of its ornaments. There is no multi-gem Art deco jewel of comparable significance in a British public collection.
The bandeau can also be seen as a symbol of Lady Mountbatten's colourful life. The god-daughter of Edward VII, she was a woman of independent mind and great wealth, who became a leader of fashion between the two World Wars. Although clearly an object at the very height of fashion, the bandeau equally reflects Lady Mountbatten's interest in India, and its Indian stones must surely have had resonances for her. As a young woman in love with Lord Louis, but not yet in receipt of her inheritance, she had had to borrow £100 from her great-aunt in order to sail to India to see him while he was aide-de-camp to the Prince of Wales. It was here that their engagement was announced in February 1922. Later, as Vicereine, she witnessed the end of British rule in the sub-continent. The bandeau itself was the piece which, in the form of two bracelets, she chose to highlight in a studio portrait on the birth of her second child.
The Minister's ruling today follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art that the export decision be deferred. The deferral will enable purchase offers to be made to purchase the bandeau at the following agreed market price:
A multi-gem Cartier bandeau, 1928, deferred at the recommended price of £300,000 (excluding VAT), until 27 December with the possibility of an extension until after 27 February if there is a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase.
Anyone interested in making an offer to purchase the bandeau should contact the owner's agent through:
The Secretary
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London
SW1Y 5DH
Notes to Editors
1. Pictures of this item can be downloaded free of charge from our site on PA Picselect. Please go to the DCMS folder situated within the Arts section of Picselect either at
www.papicselect.com or through the PA bulleting board.
2. The bandeau is in superb condition. The only difference to be seen in Cartier's record photographs is that the diamond-set ring at the end of the existing bandeau was originally balanced by a similar ring so that the two ends of the bandeau could be tied by ribbon. The bandeau divides to form two bracelets.
3. The bandeau shows the high level of technical skill at the top of the London jewellery trade. It was made by English Art Works, a company established by Cartier in 1922 and deliberately staffed with British craftsmen. At a time of hardship and unemployment in the jewellery industry, Cartier removed any unease their London customers might have had over whether it was unpatriotic to buy from a French jewellery house.
4. Thanks to the excellence of Cartier's records, the bandeau has exemplary documentation: an original design drawing in watercolours, photographs taken on completion, a record of the stones used in its making, and precise dates for its completion and its sale on 19 November 1928.
5. Lady Mountbatten was one of the leading figures in the fashionable world in Europe and the United States. The bandeau is a superb example of her taste. It was a jewel bought with her own money by a woman of independence, the heiress of Brook House and of Broadlands, who was also, by marriage, a member of the royal family. It was a fashionable jewel, but it reflected her interest in India, and it became part of her private life. The bandeau was the jewel, which, in the form of two bracelets, she chose to highlight in a studio portrait commissioned in Barcelona within a few days of the birth of her second baby.
6. Lady Mountbatten herself is of interest for much more than her social position and superb taste in the 1920s. In the second half of her married life, from 1939 to her death in 1960, Lady Mountbatten's legendary energy and courage were devoted to many causes around the world, but particularly to the St John's Ambulance Brigade, of which she was Superintendent-in-Chief from 1942, and to the Save the Children Fund, of which she was President. She was at the heart of two great historical events, the repatriation of prisoners and refugees in the Far East in 1945 (she flew 40,000 miles by air and visited sixteen countries), and, as Vicereine, the end of British rule in India. In a famous tribute Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of independent India, described her as possessing not only beauty, high intelligence, grace, charm and vitality but 'the human touch, the love of humanity, the urge to serve those who suffer and are in distress. And this amazing mixture of qualities results in a radiant personality and in the healer's touch.'
