Marjorie Post wore her Cartier emeralds when presented to King George V and Queen Mary in June of 1929. Portrait by Giulio de Blaas. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

WASHINGTON—Elegant and exotic, stylish and sophisticated, some of the most remarkable pieces by the renowned jewelry firm Cartier, created for one of its most devoted American clients, are on view in a special exhibition opening this summer in Washington, D.C. Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems will be on view at Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens from June 7 to December 31, 2014.

Marjorie Post and a selection of her Cartier pieces from Hillwood were featured in Cartier—Style and History, this past winter’s sweeping exhibition on the history of the famed jeweler at the Grand Palais in Paris. This selection of jewelry and luxury objects has been expanded and refined for Cartier to offer a new perspective on the taste and refinement that characterized Post’s style, her criteria for collecting, and her way of life. Cartier’s exceptional hand craftsmanship, its roots in refined French style, and the exquisite beauty of its pieces made the jewelry maker a perfect match for the discerning Post when she first started collecting in the 1920s, and she remained one of Cartier’s most important clients for the rest of her life. Today, Post’s holdings at Hillwood represent one of the best examples of Cartier patronage in the 20th century. The most important pieces in the collection, including an exotic brooch made of seven carved Indian emeralds and considered to be one of Cartier’s finest creations, will be rejoined with several prized jewels that Post donated to the Smithsonian in 1964, including the brooch’s companion Indian-style emerald necklace and the famous Maximilian Emerald ring, on loan from the National Museum of Natural History for Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems.

“Though the astounding jewels were statement makers for Marjorie Post, these and her whole collection of Cartier luxury objects really speak to her impeccable way of life,” explained Hillwood executive director Kate Markert. “Marjorie didn’t just purchase jewelry off the shelf. She was a connoisseur who knew gems and chose only those of the highest quality. She recognized great design and knew how to wear her jewelry to show it to its best advantage,” Markert continued.

Post also commissioned picture frames of the highest quality to coordinate with her miniature photos and paintings. The marriage of beautiful materials and highly skilled, of the moment design with these deeply personal images is evidence of Post’s unsurpassed attention to detail. A selection from this extensive collection of Art Deco jeweled frames at Hillwood, along with other personal luxury items, including a silver and enamel dressing table set and bejeweled evening cases as well as glamorous portraits, paintings, historic photos, design drawings, and correspondence, will also be part of the exhibition to illustrate the persistent presence of Cartier in Post’s life and in her collections.

Marjorie Post and Cartier
Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems will include show stopping jewels, precious frames, jeweled boxes, paintings, and personal documentation to provide an intimate look at how Post’s patronage of Cartier was emblematic of her lifelong passion for collecting objects of the finest craftsmanship, historical significance, and true splendor. “Along with other pieces from the most notable jewelers of the 20th century, Post’s Cartier jewels, frames, and objets d’art compose a collection that today is a very important aspect of Hillwood’s holdings,” explained Hillwood’s director of collections and exhibition curator, Liana Paredes. “Post’s interest in Cartier coincided with the very apex of its rise toward becoming one of the 20th century’s most distinguished jewelers,” Paredes continued. “This exhibition of Post’s most important Cartier acquisitions offers a snapshot of the very time at which Cartier in the 1920s boldly embraced the modern sensibilities of the Art Deco period and attracted the interest of the world’s most visible and fashionable clientele.”

Founded in Paris in 1847, Cartier’s iconic status was solidified at the turn of the century after Louis Cartier, grandson of the firm’s founder, and his two brothers, Pierre and Jacques, opened their prominent rue de la Paix store in 1899 and, in response to the changing world, ushered in a new modernity at Cartier. Around the time that Cartier opened its New York store in 1909, Post was developing her taste for collecting as she furnished her elegant new interiors with the arts of late 18th-century France, in particular the neoclassical style of Louis XVI—a style that was in vogue among New York’s fashionable society. This newfound passion, combined with her partiality for the modern, was timed just right to this turning point at Cartier, when a simplified approach to its classic Louis XVI style set it apart from the other jewelry houses. Post became known as Cartier’s best New York client and a lifelong customer. Her purchases ranged from the stylized jewels of the Art Deco period, to the finely-crafted frames, to the colorful creations of the 1950s.

Exhibition Highlights
The exhibition opens with two Cartier frames, the earliest pieces in the show, which illustrate the Louis XVI-style influence while also predicting, with their Fabergé-influenced enameling, the powerful attraction that Russian art will have for Post in the coming decades.

A selection of stunning emerald pieces represents both the jeweler’s and client’s interest in historic gems. A magnificent 21 carat Colombian emerald that once had been set in a ring worn by the ill-fated emperor of Mexico, Maximilian was remounted by Cartier for Post in a trendy setting of baguette diamonds whose geometric cut established the ring firmly in the Art Deco style. Post wore it for her presentation to the court of St. James’s in 1929 and donated it to the Smithsonian in 1964. The well-known emerald brooch displayed alongside the necklace on loan from the National Museum of Natural History together will illustrate the enchantment of the Indian style that Cartier produced from the late 1910s to the 1930s, when Post acquired them. The brooch boasts remarkable old cut emeralds, including seven 17th-century carved Mogul emeralds weighing a total of 250 carats. The necklace features 24 baroque-cut emerald drops, each topped with a smaller emerald bead. It was originally a sautoir—a longer necklace that could be worn with the brooch as a pendant—that she had shortened to adapt to new fashion dictates in 1941.

Marjorie Merriweather Post's  Pendant Brooch by Cartier, 1928. Emeralds, diamonds, platinum, and enamel. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. 

A portrait by painter Giulio de Blaas of Post with her daughter, Dina, in which the heiress is wearing her Indian emerald brooch. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Photograph of Marjorie Merriweather Post dressed as Juliette for the Palm Beach Everglades Ball in 1929 wearing a Cartier emerald necklace and pendant brooch. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

A diamond and sapphire necklace is an impressive example of the transformations that Cartier jewels often underwent over time in response to evolving tastes or owners. For this piece, Post instructed Cartier to combine two existing diamond and sapphire bracelets to form one necklace. The centerpiece, a large cushion-shaped sapphire surrounded by cascading diamonds, could be detached and worn separately as a brooch. Among the other important jewelry pieces on display are an arrow-shaped brooch with dangling tassels of diamonds that Post used as a clasp for her magnificent strands of pearls and a necklace and earrings made of amethysts, turquoises, diamonds, and platinum that show the adherence of Post and Cartier to the latest fashions.

Marjorie Merriweather Post's  Cartier diamond and sapphire necklace. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Detail of Cartier sapphire necklace. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Portrait of Marjorie Merriweather Post wearing a Cartier Necklace. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Marjorie Merriweather Post's  Cartier 1950-51 platinum and gold necklace and earrings with amethysts, turquoise, diamonds, gold, and platinum. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Detail of Cartier Necklace, 1950. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Detail of a necklace by Cartier, 1950. Amethysts, turquoise, diamonds, gold, and platinum. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier Earrings, 1960; turquoise, diamonds, gold. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Marjorie Merriweather Post's 1963 Cartier three-strand Caro Yamaoka pearls, diamonds, and platinum. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Detail of a Marjorie Merriweather Post s Pearl Necklace with a Diamond Clasp by Cartier. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Marjorie Post wearing a 1963 Cartier three-strand Caro Yamaoka pearl necklace centred with a large, fringed platinum and diamond clasp. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Marjorie Merriweather Post's  Cartier Clip Brooch, 1950. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Marjorie Merriweather Post's Cartier pendant brooch ca. 1922, conch pearls, diamonds, and platinum. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Marjorie Merriweather Post's Cartier bracelet, ring, and earrings made of coral, onyx, and diamonds. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Portrait of Marjorie Merriweather Post wearing a Cartier diamond bracelet and sapphire bracelet. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

In addition to the selection of frames, made of agate, enamel, or onyx and adorned with semiprecious stones that Post commissioned in the 1920s and 1930s, other luxury items on view reflect the fashionable trend among Cartier’s clients to appoint their environments with elegant and precious objects. Among those on view are a tobacco jar made of jade, gold, enamel, and sapphires; vanity cases of gold, enamel, lapis lazuli, diamonds, and sapphires; and a silver and enamel dressing table set consisting of a jewelry box, glass bottles, brushes, hand mirror, shoe horn, lace hook, and a nail file, all monogrammed with MC for Marjorie Close—her name during her first marriage—reflecting the trend among Cartier’s most fashionable clients to appoint their environments with elegant and precious objects.

Cartier Frames with Portraits of the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier beauty set, 1905. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier Frame with Miniature of Adelaide Close Riggs and her Daughter, Marjorie  Lapis lazuli, gold, enamel, diamonds, turquoise. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.  

Cartier Box, 1930. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier Frame with Miniature of Ella Merriweather Post and her Grandchildren Agate, gold, enamel, diamonds, amber, miniature. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier box with frog. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier Frame with Miniature of Eleanor Barzin  Agate, gold, enamel, diamonds, turquoise. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. 

Cartier vanity case ca. 1920, gold, enamel, lapis lazuli, diamonds, and platinum. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier Frame with Miniature of Marjorie Merriweather Post  Agate, gold, enamel, lapis lazuli. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier compact and lipstick case, ca.1920. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier Frame with Miniature of Mary Staley Post Onyx, gold, turquoise, diamonds. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier gold tobacco jar with jade, enamel and sapphires dating from 1930. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier 1928 gold frame with agate, enamel, diamonds and turquoise displaying a photo of Marjorie Merriweather Post and her daughter, Nedenia Hutton. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Cartier gold frame with agate, enamel, citrine quartz and diamonds displaying a photo of Marjorie Merriweather Post by C. Peitzner in watercolor on ivory. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier 1935 Monogrammed Box with silver, jade and coral. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Cartier Frame with Miniature of Marjorie Merriweather Post  Agate, gold, enamel, rubies. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. 

Marjorie Merriweather Post. Photo: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

For this 1942 portrait of Post (or, rather, Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton Davies), her photographer, C. M. Stieglitz, finds her all-business, accessorized with pearls, brooch, and ring and Koh-i-Noor No. 2 pencil. Photo: Library of Congress