Vendôme Column lighter
Creation details
- Creation year 1950
- Material Gold
- Usage Other
- Dimensions 105 × 24 mm
This lighter is a miniature, yellow gold replica of the column in Place Vendôme—the symbol of French jewelry throughout the world. The engravings detailing the relief of the frieze that encircle the full height of the column are remarkable, even depicting the battle scenes.
The doorways and inscription are equally finely rendered. The latticework motif at the base of the column and the festoon pattern on the cupola are both engraved as well, contrasting with other architectural elements by way of their polished finish. A schematic statue of Napoleon as Caesar stands at the top of the column.
The Vendôme column, symbol of Van Cleef & Arpels
The image of the Vendôme Column is associated with Van Cleef & Arpels in a number of ways. From the early 1920s, the first page of its sales catalogs featured a view of the square showing number 22. In 1933, the Maison had its maker’s mark stamped with the Vendôme Column. From then on, Van Cleef & Arpels’ advertisement used this motif.
From the 1940s, the renowned column was also found on many of the Maison’s creations. It contributed to the revival of the figurative repertory used on boxes and nécessaires. Two projects for cigarette boxes, for example, show the corner of Place Vendôme occupied by the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique with the column in the foreground. In one of them, conserved in the Patrimonial Collection, an architectural perspective in engraved yellow gold shows the monument depicted against a gray-gold sky. The second box shows a similar view but at night, with the square’s illuminated facades standing out in the dark.
Paris, capital of luxury
Through its choice of subject, this lighter evokes a vision of Paris that had regained its status as “the universal capital of luxury”, an image that was similarly promoted by the Théâtre de la mode during its international tour from 1945 to 1946.
The Liberation and the end of the war around the globe enabled the French luxury industries, whose “creative activity […] had been paralyzed,”1Georges Fouquet, L’Orfèvrerie, la joaillerie (Paris: Éditions du Chêne, 1942), 100. to renew their substantial pre-war production. The resumption of international relations also enabled the return of a foreign clientele, particularly Americans, to the French capital. Once again, France became the symbol of savoir-faire and innovation, as well as a popular destination for visitors from around the world. The Vendôme Column that inspired this Van Cleef & Arpels lighter embodied this image of luxury and elegance in post-war Parisian jewelry.
This creation
in archives
Product card of a Vendôme column lighter, 1950
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