How two experts at art jewelry specialist Didier Ltd. pegged a mouth-shaped brooch as the French sculptor’s work

Several years ago, Martine and Didier Haspeslagh of Didier Ltd. acquired a gold brooch shaped like a pair of lips. Purportedly the work of French sculptor Claude Lalanne, it bore his monogram and had the hallmarks of GianCarlo Montebello, whose GEM Montebello company helped artists turn their visions into wearable pieces. However, the brooch wasn’t marked like other jewels from GEM, and it was not on the Haspeslaghs’ list of jewelry Montebello had produced with other artists. But they knew from Montebello himself that he’d worked with creators like Lalanne outside of his GEM productions. Additionally, the Haspeslaghs had a necklace with a solid gold pair of lips that Montebello had cast for Lalanne in 1970, bearing the same hallmarks. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to establish the brooch’s origin for certain. So the search for proof began.

Lips brooch by Claude Lalanne. (Didier Ltd)
Lips brooch by Claude Lalanne. (Didier Ltd)

“We looked to see if we could find it published anywhere,” recounts Martine. “Our library of books and catalogs is extensive and has been built up over decades. We also have an archive of works that have come up for auction, whether we have purchased them or not, as well as a Dropbox full of photographs we found on the internet.” But none of that helped the two identify the piece. “We drew a blank for a very long time.”

Claude Lalanne's body sculpture in gold. (Vogue)
Claude Lalanne’s body sculpture in gold. (Vogue)

Then Didier saw a blurred image of a Vogue article on Instagram, showing two body ornaments Lalanne had created using German fashion icon Veruschka as a model. The Haspeslaghs found the full text from the December 1969 article online, and the caption confirmed that Lalanne had created three pieces modeled off Veruschka — the third being a pair of lips. The Haspeslaghs returned to the library to search again. “Suddenly, eureka! There was…a black-and-white photograph of Claude Lalanne applying plaster to the mouth and chin of Veruschka — definitive proof,” declares Didier. “The evidence had been there all along, just waiting for us to recognize it.”

Main image: Lips brooch by Claude Lalanne. (Didier Ltd)

11 Comments

  1. Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.

  2. One other thing is that an online business administration course is designed for individuals to be able to without problems proceed to bachelor degree programs. The Ninety credit diploma meets the lower bachelor education requirements and once you earn the associate of arts in BA online, you will possess access to the newest technologies within this field. Several reasons why students want to be able to get their associate degree in business is because they’re interested in this area and want to get the general training necessary before jumping right into a bachelor diploma program. Many thanks for the tips you provide within your blog.

  3. Great ? I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related info ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or something, site theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Nice task..

  4. Together with the whole thing that seems to be developing within this subject material, your points of view are generally quite radical. Nonetheless, I beg your pardon, but I can not give credence to your entire suggestion, all be it radical none the less. It would seem to everybody that your comments are actually not totally justified and in simple fact you are your self not even wholly convinced of the assertion. In any case I did enjoy looking at it.

  5. Good article. It is unfortunate that over the last years, the travel industry has had to fight terrorism, SARS, tsunamis, flu virus, swine flu, and the first ever entire global economic collapse. Through everthing the industry has proven to be effective, resilient along with dynamic, discovering new approaches to deal with difficulty. There are usually fresh complications and opportunity to which the field must once again adapt and react.

  6. One other issue issue is that video games are generally serious in nature with the primary focus on learning rather than entertainment. Although, we have an entertainment factor to keep the kids engaged, each and every game is frequently designed to improve a specific expertise or program, such as mathmatical or research. Thanks for your posting.

Pin It