Once again - Queen Sophie´s tiara - style and makerArchived Message
Posted by Juscha on January 30, 2012, 12:24 pm
Dear Fellow-Posters!
Much more than in all this about why it´s not worn or who inherited it, I´m interested in the question about the style and the maker of the wonderful tiara of Queen Sophie of Greece.
I´ve looked at all my pictures of tiaras and tried to find similarities in style and look of this jewel. The assumption that the tiara has been a gift to Princess Sophie of Prussia to the occasion of her marriage with Crownprince Konstantin of Greece usually is not doubted. They celebrated the engagement in 1888, the wedding was in October 1889. So it might has been made in this space of time, it has to be compared it with other jewels of this period. I do not know, if the tiara was give by her mother or by her brother, an important question because it is likely that Wilhelm will not have choosen an english jeweller. I believe that both prefered a german one, but I do not know if the german imperial house sometimes ordered jewels from Paris, Vienna or St.Petersburg.
So, if you are interested in it, too, let´s investigate together:
There are some question I have in mind to find out the maker of the tiara: Who married at the same period (+/- 5 years or so) and get a tiara? What kind, what style of tiara? Who made it? Are there special types of style and looks preferred by special families or countries? Are there details in décor very similar or the same in another jewel? Which jeweller made which kind of jewels at this time?
With a good research, perhaps we will be able to do educated guess, a little bit more than speculation.
What I see when "examine" the foto Tamara has posted (Thank you!) is a quite massive tiara of garland style. The diamonds are large, the central stones very large. My impression is that the floral elements are not so fine and delicate as we can see it ten or so years late. Regrettably there is very few material of the prussian jewels made at this time. I´m always astonished to see so many pictures of the english royal ladies, but so few of the german empresses. So there is nothing to compare it with jewels of the Empresses Viktoria or Auguste Viktoria.
It isn´t as easy as it seems to find substantial jewels of this period. I found our Top Hit The Girl of Great Britain and Ireland. Made for Princess Mary of Teck as a wedding gift in 1893. Some kind of floral design, lighter. By Garrards. Hm. The “Stuart” parure of the Netherland: similarities in details, quite massive, ca. ten years later made than the Queen Sophies by Schürmann in Frankfurt. Schürmann is from my point of view a potential candidate as maker of queen Sophie´s.