Jérémie Pauzié (; 6 December 1716 – 30 November 1779) was a Genevan

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

jeweler, artist and

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

ist, known for his work for the Russian Imperial court and the

Imperial Crown of Russia The Imperial crown of Russia (), also known as the Great Imperial Crown of Russian Empire (), was used for the Coronation of the Russian monarch, coronation of the List of Russian rulers, monarchs of Russia from 1762 until the Russian Empire, Rus ...

, which he created with the court's jeweler Georg Friedrich Ekart. Throughout his working life (1740–1764) Pauzié, who held the title Principal Diamond Expert and Court Jeweller, made jewellery and gifts for the Russian nobility, courtiers, and the Imperial family. Later he recorded his life in the book of ''Memoirs of a Court Jeweller Pauzié'', published by the Russian history journal '' Russkaya starina'' in 1870.

Biography

Pauzié studied for seven years with Benedict Gravero in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and in the end of the 1730s started his own jewellery workshop. Hs speciality was work with diamond and other jewels, he did not have much experience with noble metals. For work on metals, he hired subcontractors. In this period, Pauzié mainly produced jewellery for local noblemen, and was rarely admitted to the Imperial court. In 1761, Empress Elizabeth died, and Ekart, who was the chief court jeweller, was charged in making a funeral crown. His solution proved to be suboptimal, and Pauzié was asked to repair the crown. After that, he got access to the court, and was considered to be Ekart's chief rival. When the reign of

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

started, Ekart was charged with making the Imperial Crown, and Pauzié decorated it with jewels, against Ekart's will. In 1764, Pauzié left Saint Petersburg and went back to Switzerland, where in 1770 he became the citizen of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

The Great Imperial Crown

Pauzié was commissioned to work with Ekart, the Russian Imperial court's jeweler, to create the Great Imperial Crown of Russia, which was created for the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

in 1762. The crown was made in the style of classicism and constructed of two

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

half spheres, representing the eastern and western Roman empires, divided by a foliate garland and fastened with a low hoop. The crown contains 75 pearls and 4,936 Indian diamonds forming laurel and oak leaves, the symbols of power and strength, and is surmounted by a 398.62 carat ruby spinel that previously belonged to the Empress Elizabeth, and a diamond cross. After Catherine the Great's coronation the crown continued to be used as the coronation crown of all Romanov emperors, till the monarchy's abolition and the death of last Romanov, Nikolas II in 1918. It is considered to be one of the main treasures of the Romanov dynasty, and is now on display in the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

Armoury Museum in

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Exhibitions and commercial use

His work formed part of the art jewellery exhibitions, including The Art of the Goldsmith & the Jeweler at A La Vieille Russie in New York (1968) and Carl Fabergé and Masters of Stone Carving: Gem Masterpieces of Russia at the Dormition Belfry of the Moscow Kremlin Museums in Moscow (2011). In 2013 the Jérémie Pauzié name was acquired by French luxury group Vendôme Private Trading.

References

Bibliography

«Culture»
Discovery. Escape of the diamond master Pauzié. January, 2015 * Notes of the Court Jeweler Jeremie Posier auzie1729-64, ed. A A Kunin, in Russkaya Starina, 1870 * Alexander Solodkoff, Orfèvrerie russe du XVIIe au XIXe siècle, 1981, * A la Vieille Russie, The Art of the Goldsmith & the Jeweler, 1968, no. 174, illus. p. 76 * Sidler, Godefroy, Catalogue officiel du Musée de l'Ariana, Genève, Ville de Genève / Atar, 1905. 234 p.. , p. 126, n° 47 * Eisler, William. The Dassiers of Geneva: 18th-century European medallists. Volume II: Dassier and sons: an artistic enterprise in Geneva, Switzerland and Europe, 1733-1759. Lausanne, 2005., pp. 361– 362, fig. 47, repr. n/b * Golay, Laurent. Alexandra Karouova et al.. Suisse-Russie. Des siècles d'amour et d'oubli, 1680- 2006 at. exp. Lausanne, Musée historique, 17.02 - 21.05.2006 Lausanne, Musée historique de Lausanne; Benteli, 2006., p. 55, repr. coul. * Jeffares, Neil. Dictionary of pastellists before 1800. London, Unicorn Press, 2006., p. 622, non repr. (sous Anonyme, Ecole suisse) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pauzie, Jeremie 18th-century artists from the Republic of Geneva 1716 births 1779 deaths High fashion brands Russian jewelry designers Jewellery retailers of France Royal Warrant holders Art collectors from the Russian Empire Jewellery designers Edition critique introduite et commentée du mémoire de Jérémie Pauzié, joaillier à la Cour de Russie de 1730 à 1763 / Mélanie Draveny, Mémoire de licence dactyl. lettres Genève, 2004