Cartier has long been a leader in fine jewelry, and a new exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art is illustrating the impact of Islamic art on the house’s legacy. Co-organized with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Louvre, “Cartier and Islamic Art” showcases more than 400 pieces of Islamic art, architecture, jewelry, and the Cartier pieces inspired by them. “The design strategies here—motif, pattern, color, and form—reveal the inspirations, innovations, and aesthetic wonder present in the creations of the Maison,” says curator Sarah Schleuning. “Focused through the lens of Islamic art, the designs reveal how the Maison migrates and manifests these styles over time, as well as how they’re shaped by individual creativity.”

Major exhibitions of Islamic art in the early 20th century at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs left an immeasurable impact on Louis J. Cartier, then a partner at the jewelry house and an avid collector of Islamic art, whose team of designers also drew inspiration from Japanese textiles, Indian jewelry, and Chinese jades. These influences helped Cartier expand upon the house’s “garland style” that had brought success at the turn of the 20th century, as did his collection of Persian and Indian paintings, manuscripts, and other luxury objects that will be reconstructed for this exhibition for the first time in 80 years.