Jeanne Toussaint
Cartier’s director of fine jewelry from 1933, the creator of the house’s three-dimensional panther.
Jeanne Toussaint joined Cartier after the First World War and became close to Louis Cartier, who put her in charge of fine jewelry in 1933. Known as “La Panthère”, she gave Cartier the bold, sculptural animals and the colourful gold jewels of the 1940s and 1950s, and made the panther the house’s emblem with a brooch for the Duchess of Windsor in 1948.
Signature and marks
Her jewels carry the Cartier signature, never her own. Period, design and the records of the house identify her era.
Read more in the Journal: Jeanne Toussaint.
Related terms