Private Collection, France

Christian and Catherine Boutonnet and Rafael Ortiz, Line Vautrin, Galerie L'Arc en Seine, Paris, 2002, p. 16

Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Secret de Bijoux: Line Vautrin, 1999 for similar example

Paris, L’Arc en Seine, Line Vautrin, 2002 – 2003

Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Line Vautrin: Poesie in Metall, 2003

New York, Maison Gerard, Line Vautrin: 100 Years of Magnitude, June 1 – 30, 2013 for similar example

‘Line Vautrin is one of those archetypically French personalities — others are Cocteau, Piaf and Christian Berard — whose talents are compounded of dreams, poetry, images from the past and a mischievous sense of fun.’ (Patrick Mauriès, Line Vautrin: Sculptor, Jeweller, Magician, Thames and Hudson, London, 1992)

Vautrin’s fantasy and humor permeate her neo-Romantic work. When read phonetically in French, the phrase results in sounding out ‘C’est Idiot.’ This box is also evidence of her delight and skill in bronze, a material that few jewelers bother to gain skill in shaping and often goes unnoticed beside other more precious metals. Perhaps le vrai idiot is the one who ignores it…