This diadem is formed of two orchids in horn and one in ivory, embellished only by a small drop-shaped citrine in the central flower. The three-pronged diadem comb, also in horn, is connected to the diadem by a gold hinge.

Lalique first presented a bracelet made of horn at the Paris Salon in 1896. Thanks to its success, he continued, over the years that followed, to create jewellery with a strong presence of elements in horn and ivory, which feature in a remarkable number of objects in the Gulbenkian Collection.

The exotic orchid, one of the symbolic flowers of Art Nouveau, an aesthetic movement that emerged in the late nineteenth century, was approached by jewellers in a highly realistic manner. In this piece, Lalique’s technical prowess gives the diadem, inspired by the naturalist simplicity of Japanese art, both elegance and a sense of eroticism.