Boivin
from the Antique Jewelry University
BOIVIN (1890 - present). French jewellery house most famous for its bold creations in the 1930’s and 40’s. While the firm is named for its founder, René Boivin, it was Boivin’s wife and her entourage of female designers who produced its most famous creations. The firm effectively began in 1890 when Boivin, a goldsmith and expert engraver, bought his first jewellery workshop. In 1893, when he married Jeanne Poiret, he acquired several more. Jeanne was a savvy business partner and brought connections to Paris’s fashion elite with her. At the time, her brother was Paul Poiret, was Paris’s most famous couturier. By 1905, the Boivins’ workshops no longer needed to produce work for other firms; they were busy enough creating jewels for a small, loyal clientele. The work produced at Boivin around the turn of the century was not thoroughly innovative, but it was expertly manufactured and designed. The firm was especially known for its floral-motif, gem-set pieces. René's more adventurous work included a “bestiary” of both realistic and mythological animal miniatures, including a series of cats. At the turn of the century, rejecting Art Nouveau trends, he also designed chunky pieces inspired by Egyptian, Syrian, and Persian designs.[1] Customers often referred to these pieces as ‘barbaric.’ Though such designs would come into fashion in the 1930’s and 40's, they were too bold for their time. Many of them never sold and were dismantled. Boivin also redesigned men’s signet rings into styles that could be worn by women.[2]
When Boivin died during World War I, his wife Jeanne took over the business. This was unexpected, as women designers were not a commonplace in the industry at the time. She hired Louis Girard to manage the store. Over the next two decades, Jeanne Boivin sought out a series of female designer including Suzanne Vuillerme, later Belperron, who worked at Boivin from 1921 until 1931; Juliette Moutard, who designed for the firm from 1931 until the mid-seventies; and her daughter Germaine who began designing in 1938.
Boivin is best known for designs created by these women. Their pieces were bold and innovative. Though never signed, the jewellery was distinctive enough to be recognized by those in the know. Around 1930, the firm began to to create bold, large pieces with exotic themes and materials that diverged from the Art Deco style popular at the time. Jeanne Boivin reintroduced the ‘barbaric’ style bracelets first designed by her husband decades earlier with great success. Often these bracelets had chunky, mechanical motifs; other times they featured gentle Assyrians swirls. Yellow gold was used almost exclusively. Rubies, sapphires, and emeralds were eschewed in favor semi-precious gemstones like citrines, aquamarine, and topaz. Onyx, rock crystal, and lapis were often incorporated into the pieces, as were more obscure materials like ebony, sandalwood, and tiger-skin.[3] Boivin’s team of designers also produced naturalistic, floral designs featuring orchids, foxgloves, and umbel clusters. Animal and sea life were often depicted, as were mythical creatures like angels, mermaids, and unicorns. These creations, and their sculptural qualities, were innovative. By the 1940’s and into the 1950’s, this style of jewellery would be immensely popular. The women at Boivin produced it almost a decade before the styles were in vogue.
Boivin's clients included artists, intellectuals, and exuberant socialites like Sigmund Freud, Edgar Degas, and Louise de Vilmorin, as well as film stars and royal figures. For this reason, Boivin fancied itself the “jeweller of the intelligentsia.” The firm presented its work at select exhibitions, including the 1937 World Fair in Paris and the 1947 French Institute of Decorative Arts Show. Since it never advertised and refused to occupy a ground floor location with window-displays, the public was rarely exposed to its name or work.
When Madame Boivin retired, her daughter Germaine took over. In 1976, Germaine and her sister Suzanne sold the business to Jacques Bernard, a Boivin designer who started with the firm in 1964. It has remained in his hands since then. The firm continues to produce finely-made jewellery with typical Boivin themes.
In 1991 the firm was sold to Asprey.
Notes
Sources Consulted
- Cailles, Francoise. Rene Boivin: Jeweller. London: Quartet, 1994. ISBN 0704370905
- Excellent book on an underappreciated jewellery house. Informative with numerous photos.
- Raulet, Sylvie. Jewelry of the 1940's & 1950's. New York: Rizzoli, 1988. ISBN 0847809358
- Raulet mentions Boivin in several places and gives a short history of the firm. But she clearly
- assumes that René, not his wife and her entourage, created the pieces for which is most famous, as
- she continually refers to the creator of these pieces as a “he”.