What the Bvlgari Serpenti show in Mumbai says about the snake and Jaipur
The ongoing 'Serpenti Infinito' show reiterates the power of the serpent motif in ornamentation and shines a light on Jaipur’s wealth of gemstones
As I was leaving Serpenti Infinito, an exhibition in Mumbai dedicated to Italian jeweller Bvlgari’s seven-decade-long fascination with the snake, a dimly lit 19x19cm photo frame caught my attention. The frame contained an ink-on-paper sketch of two entwined snakes circling a star filled with Sanskrit words. It was a 17th-century Nag-Pash Yantra work believed to mitigate the impact of kaal sarp dosh, a planetary alignment in traditional astrology that’s said to bring hardships to a person’s life.
The 200-year-old photograph bore a striking resemblance to Bvlgari’s Serpenti Hidden Eternity necklace on display two floors above at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre’s Art House. Was there a connection between the framed piece and the two diamond-encrusted entwined serpents embellished with blue sapphire, rubellites and emeralds?
“It’s a big coincidence," said Sean Anderson, the show’s curator. “Jean-Christophe Babin (Bvlgari’s chief executive) and I noticed it just yesterday."
The snake has long been a part of many cultures, revered for its power as a symbol of protection, fertility, rebirth and even sin. It has appeared in Aztec artifacts, predating Roman and Greek cultures, and Harappan seals.
From its long tail to the ovoid head, the reptile motif continues to inspire jewellery makers worldwide. At Jaipur’s Amrapali, for instance, you can find a maroon-enamelled, silver snake ring that would twine around half a finger. Cartier has a more delicate version of the ring in gold and emeralds. Tiffany has sold the famous Elsa Peretti design, inspired by a Texan rattlesnake tail, in necklaces and rings, since the 1970s. But no jewellery house has made the serpent its own as Bvlgari has.
A walk through the three floors of Art House offers a sense of how, over the past seven decades, the brand has recreated the snake in jewellery, watches, handbags and eyeglasses.
There’s a 1975 Serpenti Tubogas bracelet-watch in gold and blackened steel that brings a slice of Art Deco to the wearer’s wrist. Then there’s a 1969 gold necklace in blue and green enamel work. A 2010 belt looks like a snake frozen in gold and diamonds.
All exquisite, though it would have helped if there had been more information regarding the piece’s design story.
Besides high jewellery and watches, the show, which continues till 17 October, includes over 70 artworks by international and homegrown artists to reiterate the centrality of the snake is in mythology, art, history and craft.
“Snakes are a powerful shape in jewellery," says Lucia Silvestri, the creative director of Bvlgari jewellery, who joined the brand 45 years ago. “While the Bvlgari family first designed the Serpenti (as a watch) in 1948, we started much more experimentations (with the different shapes) only in the last 10 years."
To illustrate her point, Silvestri shows a new Bvlgari necklace with triangular motifs, inspired by the design of a pillar in a Jaipur palace, and a rubellite pendant that’s more than 100 carats.
“I’m close to this piece because I saw the rough of the rubellite in Jaipur," she says.
That’s the other striking aspect of the exhibition: Jaipur’s coloured gemstones take centrestage along with the snake. It’s well-known that Jaipur is a global hub for coloured gemstones, but to see that all that wealth of beauty under one roof is a strong reminder of India’s central role in the global jewellery story.
“I started coming to Rajasthan in the 1980s while looking for gems and discovered my passion for India, for colours, and the power of stone," says Silvestri. “Even today, each time I come here, I get this goosebump-y feeling looking at the gems. The quality, variety and knowledge of the artisans, whether it’s gems or jewellery in general, is unlike anything I have seen anywhere else in the world."
The Bvlgari Serpenti Infinito exhibition is on till 17 October at the Art House, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai.
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