Cartier La Maison des Enfants Porcelain Child's Bowl. Depicts two panthers playing with a bunch of floating jewels that encircle the inner rim over a potted flower. Marked made in England and dated 1988 on the underside. 

Size: 2 x 6 x 6 in. 

In 1847 apprentice watchmaker Louis-Francois Cartier took over the Paris workshop of his master, Adolphe Picard, renaming it Cartier and expanding their focus to manufacturing as well as distributing. In 1874 his son Alfred gained control of the company, by which time the company was renowned for producing luxury jewelry, leather goods, and watches, and Alfred’s son Louis ran the Paris branch from 1899 onward while his other sons Jacques and Pierre established London and New York branches in 1909, respectively, eventually developing their international market and adding sunglasses to their product line. Throughout the 20th Century numerous royals were patrons of the company, including the Maharaja of Patiala and King Edward VII, who referred to the company as “the jeweler of kings, and the King of Jewelers.” The company remained under family control until 1964, and today is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group with more than 200 stores in 125 countries. In 1974 Robert Hocq, the new president of Cartier, coined the phrase “Les Must de Cartier” (Cartier, it’s a must!), and the phrase became the brand name of a collection of accessibly-priced pieces in 1976, although the Must de Cartier line of goods was discontinued in the mid-2000s, as a lower-priced line was seen as unnecessary given Cartier’s growing exclusivity and prestige.

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