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Thursday, October 23, 2014

La Ruche Imperiale - 160 Year Anniversary of the Bee Bottle c2013

La Ruche Impériale- was one of several special presentations created in 2013 to mark the 160th anniversary of the creation of the bee bottle, known as the Abeille flacon.



Guerlain commissioned nine “Maîtres d’art” of the Institut National des Métiers d’Art of France. Giving them full artistic freedom to create whatever they could envision to centre around a one litre bee bottle. The resulting incarnations are truly the epitome of one of a kind masterpieces.


The unique bottles were on display at the Maison Guerlain, 68, Champs-Élysées, from the 10th of December 2013 to the 14th of February 2014 and were showcased in photo and video exhibitions in Guerlain’s Exclusive Line Doors in 2014. They will be sold to help fund the “Maîtres d’art – Students” project, in which master artists pass down rare and exceptional skills to apprentices, overseen by the Institut National des Métiers d’Art (INMA). You can read more about the INMA online.

Laurent Nogues, Maître d’art – Class of 2011. This founder of the Creanog studio is the preeminent artist in the sector of embossing, hot-stamping and insets on paper. He fabricates labels for affluent brands and highly respected institutions.

From Guerlain:

“La Ruche Impériale” (“The Imperial Hive”) 
A graphic art version of the honeycombs that make up the hive. This precious honeycomb-shaped case is just waiting to be opened and unfolded to reveal the innovation and splendour of paper transformed through embossing. It is composed of six panels lined with white paper embossed with a tone-on-tone honeycomb motif. On closer view, one notices an optical illusion on the central stamp that represents the legendary bottle. The development of specific tools and a very singular embossing technique allow for a complex, tailor-made geometry for endless effects of light with striking definition.