Discover the story behind this sword during an exceptional conversation between Pascal Ory and Thierry Vendome, hosted by Léonard Pouy, jewelry historian and teacher-researcher at L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.
(Video in French)
[Video] Pascal Ory’s Academician’s Sword by Thierry Vendome
“Despite the place that the Academies continue to hold among French symbols, the general public is not familiar with the stories behind the academician’s swords that are carried during the institution’s formal ceremonies. The story of this sword began like a tale and concluded like a festival of artistic imagination. A chance meeting the day after I was elected to the Academy led to an adventure with the goldsmith and jeweler Thierry Vendome, the son of Jean Vendome, in his own time a master craftsman of academician’s swords. A strong intellectual and aesthetic emulation determined the choice of symbols, from the guard to the motto engraved on the blade, and that of the materials, from lapis lazuli to shagreen, silver, and gilded silver. Jewelry expertise was enriched with the savoir-faire of a blacksmith, a lapidary, a sheath craftsman, and a draftswoman (Catherine Meurisse for the muse of Clio, allegory of History). The work of art resulting from this convergence of passions has become a symbol of a friendship and a creativity in itself.”
Pascal Ory, professor emeritus at the Sorbonne (Paris I), member of the French Academy
Discover the story behind this sword during an exceptional conversation between Pascal Ory and Thierry Vendome, hosted by Léonard Pouy, jewelry historian and teacher-researcher at L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.