Strauss & co - 22 November 2010, Cape Town

34 Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff was born in Petropavlovsk, in distant north- eastern Russia on a peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean. In 1917, to escape the Russian Revolution, the family fled south to Chinese Manchuria, where the young Tretchikoff became a set painter in the Harbin Opera House. It was here that his passion for theatre, opera and spectacle were nurtured. He met and married his beloved wife Natalie in Shanghai in 1932. They soon relocated to Singapore where they became part of the cosmopolitan social set that frequented places like the Dutch Club. Natalie was inevitably the centre of attraction at these glittering events dressed in ball gowns and jewellery designed by her devoted husband. Her striking good looks and his penchant for theatricality are reflected in dramatic designs that evoke historical periods and exotic locations. However, when the SecondWorldWar spread to the Pacific in 1940, Natalie and their daughter Mimi were evacuated and the family lost all contact. In 1946 they were re-united in South Africa. Tretchikoff went on to become one of the most commercially successful artists of all time. This remarkable necklace, designed by Tretchikoff and made in Cape Town, is an extraordinary art piece and the embodiment of an abiding love that triumphs against all odds. Vladimir and Natalie Tretchikoff photograph courtesy of the Tretchikoff family Pigeon’s Luck , Vladimir Tretchikoff and Anthony Hocking, Collins, St James’ Place, London, 1973, p128