René Lalique and Calouste Gulbenkian met in the mid-1890s. Of the approximately 80 pieces of jewellery acquired directly by the collector from the artist, the Wooded Lanscape choker plaque was the first. This remarkable object was purchased in 1899 with the promise of being loaned for the 1900 Paris Exposition, at which Lalique was represented by about a hundred works.

The choker plaque features a framed landscape consisting of trees carved in gold, where ivy branches in translucent enamel intertwine. A lake consisting of three plaques of iridescent opals, Lalique’s favourite stone, with diamond-studded shores, completes the plaque’s decoration. Nature copied from reality, which Lalique carefully observed for his creations and which fuelled an immense repertoire, constitutes one of the major themes of his work.