Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Cartier, Paris (manufacturer)
Sautoir 1906
natural pearls, diamonds, platinum
34.7 × 17.0 × 0.3 cm
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2026
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Sautoir
1906
Medium
natural pearls, diamonds, platinum
Measurements
34.7 × 17.0 × 0.3 cm
Credit Line
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2026
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba was an important early patron of Cartier. She purchased this sautoir in 1906 at the height of her fame, and it remained in her collection throughout her life. The necklace comprises a chain of platinum links and seed pearls punctuated by rosette spacers and a circular pendant set with diamonds in a sixteen-petalled rosette design. Interestingly, the necklace is described in Cartier’s archives as a ‘diamond Japanese rosette’, possibly referring to the chrysanthemum, a flower of national significance in Japan and a common decorative motif in Japanese design. Cartier was at the forefront of fashionable luxury jewellery, and the sautoir’s design reflects the deep interest of European designers in Japanese art at the time.