Attributed to CARTIER, "Gremlins" Collection, 1940s - Lot 73

Attributed to CARTIER, "Gremlins" Collection, 1940s Six Charm's charms in 585‰ white gold with polychrome enamel depicting Gremlins, imaginary figures accused during World War II of sabotaging RAF aircraft, mounted on a 750‰ yellow gold gourmette bracelet with alternating oblong and round links, spring clasp. Three charms numbered "8572", "8580" and "8588". Length: 19cm. Mesh width: 0.6cm. P. Gross weight: 20.1g. (Small chips and missing enamel). These "Gremlins" charms plunge us into the history of Cartier and the place occupied by jewelry during the Second World War. Very much in vogue in the 1930s-1940s, charm's were an essential part of Cartier's creations, which became a specialty. The representations were multiple (lucky charms, wine bottles, gold ingots, playing cards...), and the techniques varied, notably with the use of polychrome enamels. At the end of the 1930s, Walt Disney Productions and Cartier worked together to produce polychrome enamelled charms reproducing the emblematic characters of the cartoons "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in 1937 and "Pinocchio" in 1940. As for the "Gremlins", they were designed by Bernard Dupérier (1907-1995), a French military officer and active commander in London at the time, after joining General de Gaulle and the Free French Air Force in 1941. When he submitted his drawings to M. Bellenger, director of Cartier in London, he described them as follows: "My fellow RAF pilots had developed the habit, as a joke, of blaming their professional errors on invisible little geniuses who were amused by the pranks they played on the "Boys": the "GREMLINS"! If a pilot ran out of fuel because he hadn't checked his tank gauge and flight time, he blamed a Gremlin for drinking the fuel! Then there were the Gremlins who unscrewed bolts, those who made the radio unintelligible and, last but not least, "Filfinella", the Gremlin lady who entertained her victims! As our Gremlins testify, Resistance through humor occupied a special place at Cartier during the war. A "Gremlins" bracelet - belonging to the Cartier Collection - was presented at the "Cartier in Motion" exhibition organized from May 25 to July 28, 2017 at the Design Museum in London, curated by architect Norman Foster. Made by Cartier London, it corresponded to a commission executed in 1942-1943. Bibliography: The French Jewelry Post, "L'humour a-t-il déserté la joaillerie", article dated March 31, 2021 by Sandrine MERLE.