Blog:Tefaf 2009
By Alain, March 19th, 2009
On Monday, March 16th, I packed the car and a companion to inspect the most prestigious antiques and arts fair in the world. As every year, the TEFAF fair in Maastricht, The Netherlands was well attended and even though we arrived at 11 AM (opening time) the large entrance hall was cramped with people hoping to pass the security checks. My lovely escort, wisely, left her pliers - that I needed to borrow to create an extra hole in my belt - at my place. The fair had a spacious setup and once inside the crowd dispersed, giving everyone the opportunity to view all that was on display without needing to work the elbows. The only jam was in a passage where a modern art video was projected and a large green concave mirror entertained those who walked into the stand. This was the only place where some interactivity took place. Maybe next year the exhibitors can think about making it more fun for the guests that I bring.
As always the fair was too large to spend time at every stand and I restricted myself mainly to jewelry, snooping for something out of the ordinary. There was again no shortage of Art Nouveau items, in particular Lalique was available in large quantities. Although beautiful, when you see it too often your taste changes. As Jack Ogden once said (not related to the fair) there is "more Lalique than even Lalique imagined"[1]. As my focus now is on hair jewelry, I kept a third eye open for it, but found none. The taste for these items must have been replaced. I also saw many items that were offered last year.
I had a nice talk with Ulf Breede about participation in the AJU and we inspected the site on his laptop.
Phillips of London had some beautiful renaissance pendants, clevery enameled en ronde bosse and in fine condition. I have been fascinated by these objects since I first held one in my hands some 20 years ago at the "Louvre des Antiquaires" in Paris (opposite of the museum - place du Palais Royal). I recall the price of that pendant being 600,000 French Francs (about 100,000 Euro) and the shopkeeper constantly held his hands below mine in case I might drop it. My inexperience must have shown.
At the stand of Wartski my eye fell on a beautiful and large neo-renaissance pendant attributed to Emile Froment-Meurice, dated ca. 1880. It was in mint condition. When Bennett and Mascetti wrote ".. the Renaissance original would never have been of such high quality"[2] they refered to a bracelet by Giuliano, but they could as well have had this pendant in mind. The highly 3-dimensional object features enameled scroll work, set with diamonds, slightly pinkish rubies and emeralds - a well balanced palette - around the central head of a woman with an enameled aigrette. Theodor de Bry could not have designed it much better. Who the lady in the portrait depicts is not known, but I like to speculate it was a famous actress or a dancer at the Folies Bergère. Maybe it was just the personification of the American continent. We will probably never know as the piece is not signed.
I had a short dialogue with Sophia Dicks about hallmarks on mourning rings and she also saw a correlation between gold coinage (Guineas and Sovereigns) and the 22 carat rings. She promised to send me some documentation on it after the show.
We had sushi, walked around a bit more and set for home.
Notes
- ↑ Personal communication
- ↑ Understanding Jewellery (1989), p. 184