Remembering Cartier and the Arts of Islam
- Ben Slimane
- May 31
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 23
Islamic art changed jewelry for the entire world. And once you make this connection, you will never see jewelry the same way ever again.
This was the promise of “Cartier and the Arts of Islam” presented by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. From October 21, 2021, to February 20, 2022, the public was invited to see some of the greatest achievements by Cartier alongside the Islamic art that helped inspire it.
The exhibition featured over 500 pieces. The stars of the show, no doubt, were the jewelry and objets d’art by Cartier along with masterpieces of Islamic art. There were also drawings, books, photographs, and archival documents that helped to trace the connection between the central subjects.
It was a grand effort by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Louvre Museum, and the Maison Cartier.
Let’s look at the history of Cartier and its embrace of Islamic art before taking a look at the exhibition itself.
If you love this kind of exhibition, consider booking a private tour of the Louvre’s Islamic art collection with MATAHAFI and a Jewellery Tour with my colleague Toma.
The Cartier Legacy and Its Debt to Islamic Art
Louis-François Cartier launched his prestigious jewellery empire in 1847. It is that year that he took over the Paris workshop of Adolphe Picard, who taught the young man everything he knew.
But while Louis-François and later his son Alfred surely made fine pieces with much craftsmanship, they are not the men who made the name “Cartier” synonymous with the finest jewelry.
The third generation of Louis, Pierre, and Jacques took the name worldwide. They took the reins at the dawn of the 20th century, when everything was about to change.
Each took control of one of the maison’s headquarters. Louis took Paris, Pierre took New York, and Jacques took London. Under their leadership, Cartier became “the jeweler of kings and the king of jewelers.” Or so said the King of England, Edward VII.
What was it that made their work so special?
The men were lovers and connoisseurs of fine art. This increased the sophistication of their eye and led to a design philosophy that one could sense immediately.
But it was also their international and cosmopolitan sensibilities that added a touch of the exotic. This was nowhere more true than in the Paris branch.
Louis and Islamic Art
It was Louis in Paris who introduced designs and innovations that would most remarkably remake the world of jewelry.
In the early 20th century, Paris was a hotbed of cultural cross-pollination. This is thanks to the many World’s Fairs and Orientalist exhibitions that marked recent decades. And it was all bolstered by a European public hungry for art from distant lands.
The Cartier brothers were no different. They acquired all kinds of art, particular Islamic art. And when we consider these pieces, we see how they influenced later designs from Cartier.
Islamic art emphasizes geometry, abstraction, and intricate floral detailing, more or less forbidding the representation of humans. These artists discovered ways to create geometric tessellations and elaborate arabesques. And it was all stitched together with calligraphy.
At the time, much of European design already had plenty of floral influence. This is most pronounced in the flowing lines of Art Nouveau. That meant that the truly novel ideas that stuck out in Islamic art were the geometric patterns. And Louis Cartier reinterpreted these motifs in jewelry and objets d’art.
Mughal and Indian Influence in the Tutti Frutti
For his part, Jacques made many trips to India, where the Islamic Mughal rulers made a lasting impression on the aesthetics. In particular, their jewelry became an almost mythic fixture in his imagination—its intricacy, its shining gemstones, its bold colors.
Mughal jewelers often used the “cut-down” technique, setting stones in a way that maximized their brilliance without the interference of metal prongs. Cartier’s workshops adapted these techniques, introducing carved emeralds, sapphires, and rubies into their designs. They combined these elements with Western jewelry-making precision, creating an intoxicating blend of East and West.
Along with these innovations, Cartier also began using materials like platinum. This technical leap meant incredible structural integrity with very little material.
The Tutti Frutti pieces are the greatest example of these cultural and technological changes. Where Western jewelry was stuck in monochrome, these pieces overflowed like a cornucopia. Ruby berries, emerald leaves, and sapphire buds hang deliciously in various weights and sizes.
Even today, the Tutti Frutti pieces stop the breath and dazzle the eye.
The Exhibition
The design broke up the narrative across two parts. The first section explored Cartier’s fascination with Islamic art and architecture and how they found inspiration in the cultural milieu of early 20th-century Paris.
Visitors were immediately shown the intimate dialogue between Cartier’s creations and masterpieces of Islamic art, with three emblematic Cartier pieces juxtaposed against historical Islamic works.
Along the north gallery, one could follow the creative process through books from Louis Cartier’s personal library as well as his own private collection of Islamic art (reconstructed here for the first time since its dispersal).
The journey continues with a look at Jacques Cartier’s pivotal 1911 voyage to India, where he met with local princes and expanded Cartier’s clientele among the maharajas. While there, he acquired and studied a vast amount of antique and contemporary Indian jewelry.
The second part of the exhibition, set in the south gallery, focused on the vast repertoire of forms inspired by Islamic art (many of these were loaned by the Louvre, which houses Europe’s most impressive permanent display of Islamic art).
Early 20th-century Cartier pieces reflect discoveries made through ornament and architecture books, showcasing motifs like stepped merlons and glazed brickwork patterns. These would later influence the Art Deco style made famous at the 1925 Paris International Exhibition.
A digital installation by the DS+R studio enhanced the visitor experience, offering an interactive exploration of Cartier’s creative processes. This exhibition marked the first time that the creation process of a major jewelry house was so comprehensively examined.
The Curatorial Team
The exhibition was curated by a fantastic team led by Evelyne Possémé, Chief Curator of the Jewelry Department at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. She worked alongside Judith Henon-Raynaud, Chief Curator of Heritage and Deputy Director of the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum. They were joined by Sarah Schleuning, Interim Chief Curator and Principal Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Dallas Museum of Art, along with Dr. Heather Ecker, Curator of Islamic and Medieval Art at the Dallas Museum of Art.
The scenography was managed by renowned architectural studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R).
A Celebration of Islamic Art and the Maison Cartier
This story in the history of art and design shows us just how powerful styles can be when they leap between cultures.
It also reminds us of the aesthetic treasures waiting for us in the realm of Islamic art.
If you’d like to take the dive into whirling arabesques and geometric webbing, we have just the private tour for you. See the Louvre’s department of Islamic art with a passionate guide.
Book your tour with Toma and me, Souheil.
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