Gavilane, Paris

 

La boutique

Gavilane è un marchio di gioielli fondato nel 1987 da Gavilane Abadie et Jean-Philippe Mollereau, detto Aden. E’ stato lui che mi ha presentato la boutique, nel centro del Marais. L’avevo vista solo in alcune foto online, ma c’era stato un particolare che aveva attratto la mia attenzione: una parete rossa piena di oggetti religiosi e che era parsa a me una bellissima wunderkammer moderna.
Appena si entra nella boutique si possono vedere i gioielli Gavilane, dall’ispirazione gotica e barocca insieme, mistica e decadente. Questi gioielli sono esposti su vetrinette e piccole consolle insieme ad altri oggetti come coralli, busti, orologi, così che il negozio sembra una vera camera delle meraviglie e i gioielli così disposti diventano essi stessi vanitas simboliche. Oltre ai gioielli Gavilane crea anche accessori come cappelli e mantelline, che riadatta da pezzi antichi. Aden non è solo creatore di gioielli, ma anche musicista e cantautore ed è stato così gentile da regalarmi il suo ultimo album “Exit”.

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The boutique
Gavilane is a couture jewelry brand founded in Paris in 1987 by Gavilane Abadie and Jean-Philippe Mollereau, also known as Aden. He was Aden himself to show me his boutique, in the centre of Marais. I started to be very curious about this shop since my attention was caught by a picture of a red wall full of religious things hanging on the wall and it seemed to me a modern wunderkammer.
Once inside, one can see Gavilane jewels, both baroque and gothic, mystic and decadent, that are all showcased in cabinets and little consolles, together with other objects like corals, busts, clocks so that the shop itself seems a cabinet of curiosity and the jewels become symbolic vanitas. Gavilane also creates accessories like hats and little cloaks, recreating old pieces. Aden is not only a designer, but he also can sing and write songs and was so kind to give me as a gift his latest album “Exit”. 

La collezione

Quello che mi ha sopratutto interessato di Aden è la sua collezione di memento mori e oggetti religiosi che ha appeso e sistemato in un piccolo corridoio dalla parete rossa nella parte posteriore del negozio. Si ha l’impressione di entrare in una wunderkammer sacra piena di rosari, croci, icone, piccole acquasantiere, gioielli di vario genere ma anche conchiglie, sculturine in avorio, teschi, paramenti sacri, piume e tantissime altre cose, accostate in modo del tutto scenografico e sottilmente simbolico. Aden mi dice che ama collezionare oggetti sacri e vanitas, sopratutto del XIX secolo e quando gli chiedo se preferisce il sacro o il profano lui mi dice “il Sacro, perché credo”. Mi mostra il rosario che ha al polso, in avorio, dai grani grossi e decorati, uno dei quali è un Giano bifronte.

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The Collection
What really fascinated me about Aden is his collection of memento mori and religious objects that he arranged in a little hallway with a red wall in the back side of the shop. It’s like entering in a holy wunderkammer full of rosaries, crosses, sacred images, little stoups, jewels of every kind and shells, ivory and wooden artifacts, skulls, liturgical vestments, feathers and a lot of other things, all arranged in a symbolic way.
Aden said me that he loves to collect holy objects and vanitas, especially from XIX century. When I asked him whether of two he prefers, if Holy or Profane, he said “Holy, because I believe” and while speaking he showed me an ivory rosary on his wrist, with big carved beads and one of them was a two-faced Janus.

Lo studio

Alla fine del corridoio rosso arrivo allo studio, una stanza prevalentemente nera. Vedo alla parete quello che sembrerebbe un altare e riconosco una foto di Irina Ionesco. Chiedo ad Aden perché mai quella foto e lui mi dice che Irina è una sua amica e che la donna della foto è Natacha van Beverloo, moglie dell’artista Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo. Facendo poi delle ricerche ho scoperto che già Diane Pernet si era interessata a quella foto e a Natacha van Beverloo, di cui dice:

“Natacha was a dancer in the Ballet Russe and married to the Belgian born Dutch master painter, printmaker, ceramicist and writer, Corneille van Beverloo. We talked about many things, meetings she had with Guy Bourdin, Picasso and of course her years as a model for Irina Ionesco. It’s funny because the other night when I was having dinner at Mr. Pearl’s, Catherine Baba was there and she did the costumes for Eva Ionesco’s new film, “Je ne suis pas une princesse” with Isabelle Huppert. I don’t know if you know the story behind the relationship between Eva and her mother Irina but there are many chapters and many films that could possibly come out of this very complicated relationship. At any rate it was the artist Corneille that bought Irina her first camera and with that she took many photos of Natacha. Several years later Natacha and Corneille married and forty years later they are still together”.

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The studio
At the end of the red hallway I entered in the studio, a black room where I saw a kind of altar over which was hanging a photo. I realized it was a picture of Irina Ionesco so I asked Aden why he had that picture there and he told me that Irina was a friend of him and that the woman portrayed in the photo is Natacha van Beverloo, wife of the artist Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo. I later did some researches and I discovered that Diane Pernet have already been interested in that photo and about Natacha van Beverloo as well. She wrote of her:

“Natacha was a dancer in the Ballet Russe and married to the Belgian born Dutch master painter, printmaker, ceramicist and writer, Corneille van Beverloo. We talked about many things, meetings she had with Guy Bourdin, Picasso and of course her years as a model for Irina Ionesco. It’s funny because the other night when I was having dinner at Mr. Pearl’s, Catherine Baba was there and she did the costumes for Eva Ionesco’s new film, “Je ne suis pas une princesse” with Isabelle Huppert. I don’t know if you know the story behind the relationship between Eva and her mother Irina but there are many chapters and many films that could possibly come out of this very complicated relationship. At any rate it was the artist Corneille that bought Irina her first camera and with that she took many photos of Natacha. Several years later Natacha and Corneille married and forty years later they are still together”.

Informazioni 

Gavilane ha due negozi nel Marais, questo è quello al 14 di rue Malher, l’altro invece si trova poco lontano, al 39 di Rue Vieille du Temple.
Potete trovare più informazioni sul sito ufficiale gavilane.com o sul sito di Aden adenmusic.fr che ha anche una pagina facebook .
Diane Pernet ha dedicato diversi post a Gavilane e a Natacha van Beverloo:

  1. A visit to Gavilane mystic jewelery and decadent accessories
  2. Natacha van Beverloo photos by Irina Ionesco
  3. Natacha van Beverloo talks about her life with the ballet russe meeting the painter Corneille 
  4. Natacha van Beverloo by Irina Ionesco

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Informations
Gavilane has two shops in the Marais. This that I took pictures of is the one at 14, rue Malher. The other one is not very far, at 39 Rue Vieille du Temple.
If you need other informations go to the official site  gavilane.com or to Aden’s site adenmusic.fr who also have a Facebook page.
Diane Pernet wrote several posts about Gavilane and Natacha van Beverloo:

  1. A visit to Gavilane mystic jewelery and decadent accessories
  2. Natacha van Beverloo photos by Irina Ionesco
  3. Natacha van Beverloo talks about her life with the ballet russe meeting the painter Corneille 
  4. Natacha van Beverloo by Irina Ionesco

from right to left: Aden; Natacha van Beverloo in one of the portraits Irina Ionesco took of her; Gavilane Abadie with Natacha van Beverloo and Diane Pernet at Gavilane boutique.

The collection:

The Studio: 

The Boutique:

 


Aesthete. Art historian & blogger. Content creator and storyteller. Fond of real and virtual wunderkammer. Founder and main author of rocaille.it.

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