The birthstone of December is turquoise, so keeping this in mind I went searching for a topic for this weeks post. I found a diadem given to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria as a wedding gift from her husband Napoleon I, who included it in a full parure. The wedding gift included a comb, necklace and earrings, all created by Parisian jeweller Etienne Nitot et Fils and made of emeralds and diamonds set in silver and gold.
%2Bby%2BNitot%2Bfor%2BEmpress%2BMarie-Louise%2BBoneparte%2Bof%2BHapsburg%2Bnow%2Bin%2BSmithsonian%2B2.jpg)
The diadem had 79 emeralds and more then a 1000 diamonds.
When empress Marie Louise died she left her pieces to a relative( her aunt archduchess Elise, according to the smithsonian or her cousin Leopold II according to the Louvre) In 1953 the collection was sold to Van Cleef and Arpels with a document attesting to provenance.
%2Bby%2BNitot%2Bfor%2BEmpress%2BMarie-Louise%2BBoneparte%2Bof%2BHapsburg%2Bnow%2Bin%2BSmithsonian.jpg)
Van Cleef and Arpels went on to take out all the emeralds from the diadem and mounted them into new pieces which where sold on and described as 'an emerald for you from the historic Napoleonic Tiara.' Some time later turquoise was added in place of the emeralds. As much as I love turquoise, I must admit in pictures at least I prefer the emeralds but I've read you have to see it in person to appreciate the turquoises beauty. There is nothing wrong with the turquoise but I think the emeralds look better as royalty then turquoise. Maybe it's the sparkle?
%2Bemeralds%2Breplaced%2Bwith%2Bturquoise%2Bby%2BVan%2BCleef%2B%26%2BArpels%2Bnow%2Bin%2BSmithsonian%2B3.jpg)
In 1962 the collection was displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris as part of a special exhibition on Empress Marie Louise.
The new look tiara caught the eye of Marjorie Merriweather Post, an American collector who brought it from Van Cleef and Arpels and donated the piece to the Smithsonian in 1971, which is where it remains today.
No comments:
Post a Comment