The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 18, 2025
Seashell (Coquillage) Compact
c. 1953–56
designer
(French, 1907–1987)
Overall: 33 x 25.4 x 10.2 cm (13 x 10 x 4 in.)
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
A billowy powder puff made of snow white down plucked from a French swan nestles within this solid gold compact.Description
One of the most celebrated Parisian designers of jewelry and luxurious accessories, Jean Schlumberger created this compact during the height of popularity for the sunny French Riviera. From the beach clubs of St. Tropez to the casinos of Monte Carlo, fashionable women wore jewels and powdered their noses both night and day. The seashell motif no doubt appealed to such society mavens, enjoying the post-war prosperity of France in the 1950s.- 2014(Sotheby's, New York, NY, November 20, 2014, Lot 236, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley)2009–2020Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art2020–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Ducamp, Emmanuel. "Austrian and French Decorative Arts." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 46-49, 60-61,150-151, 184-185. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 150-151; Mentioned: p. 271-272
- Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
- {{cite web|title=Seashell (Coquillage) Compact|url=false|author=Jean Schlumberger|year=c. 1953–56|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.203