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In 2005, Cartier created a new collection of writing instruments in a limited edition titled “The Menagerie, Signed by Cartier.” The
present lot was the first in the collection, and was also the first Cartier pen in the shape of a panther.
According to Francesca Cartier Brickell, the panther has been a timeless motif in Cartier’s creations. “The idea of a panther as a
motif wasn’t a new one for Cartier. As early as 1914, [Charles] Jacqueau had filled his sketchbooks with images of panthers and
created a panther‒motif watch strap from diamonds and onyx.” (
The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry
Empire
, New York: Ballantine Books, 2019, p. 458) Louis Cartier encouraged the use of panthers on vanity cases and tie pins, and
soon his brother Jacques also became enamoured; he “had already marveled at panthers in the wild in India, but it was as he
read his small son a bedtime story years later” – Rudyard Kipling’s
The Jungle Book
– “that the elegance of the beasts impressed
him again.” Decades later, Jeanne Toussaint, who was the director of Cartier’s luxury department from 1933 to 1970 and was
known to have an affinity with the animal – she was affectionately called “La Panthere” and “PanPan” – would go on to make
the panther an iconic, unforgettable motif through versatile pieces and designs set with exquisite gemstones.
75
LIMITED EDITION STERLING SILVER
‘PANTHER’ PEN BY CARTIER
Sterling silver Panthère de Cartier pen plated with
rhodium. The muzzle of the panther is made of onyx
and the eyes are twin green spinels. It has a rhodium-
plated 18K gold nib. Accompanied by a transparent
crystal base and original box.
211 from a limited edition of 500
$ 13,515 ‒ 20,275
Rs 10,00,000 ‒ 15,00,000
PROVENANCE
From an Important Private Collection, Mumbai
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