Re: QD - My copy just arrived!! Archived Message
Posted by gillw  on May 17, 2012, 10:22 am, in reply to "QD - Mistake Found 'Queen Mary's Greek Tiara'"
Can't wait to start browsing every page....
--Previous Message--
: In combing through the various footnotes and
: references, as I try and compile and
: authoritative account of everything I know.
:
: I came across a glaring error in regards to
: the tiara that I now call 'Queen Mary's
: Greek Tiara', it is the honeysuckle tiara
: now owned by the Duchess of Gloucester and
: features in Munn.
:
: This tiara is described correctly by
: Garrards as:
:
: “A Greek honeysuckle pattern Tiara, with
: rising centre”.
:
: Queen Mary's Greek Tiara was made using
: diamonds from ‘Queen Mary’s County of Surrey
: Necklace/Tiara’ (other than the large
: diamonds which had been used to alter ‘Queen
: Mary’s Girls of Great Britain and Ireland
: Tiara’); and also using the remaining “33
: brilliants & 3 rose diamonds” from
: ‘Queen Mary’s Ladies of England
: Necklace/Tiara’ (that had not been used in
: the construction of ‘Queen Mary’s Lover’s
: Knot Tiara’). As well as 426 brilliants
: provided for by Garrards; all at the cost of
: £420.
:
: Which is all correct, Roberts reveals that
: it was made between 1913-1914; and was made
: originally to take the Cullinan V brooch in
: the central aperture, or a "large
: sapphire & diamond Brooch" or a
: "pink topaz & diamond Brooch".
: Which again is all correct; the only thing
: Roberts fails to mention is that the tiara
: was at some point lowered with a band of
: diamonds and 9 brilliants being removed from
: the top of the central aperture of the
: tiara.
:
: However the mistake arises when Roberts also
: quotes the accounts from Garrards which
: billed Queen Mary and George V for £887 10s
: each for "A diamond Greek pattern
: Tiara, with 3 Marquise brilliant clusters
: between honeysuckle sprays & wreath
: border". Which is a description that
: does not match the finished tiara, and is a
: considerable price for just the remounting
: of stones. Thus I did some digging. And
: found ...
:
: That this tiara, given as a wedding gift
: from George V and Queen Mary to Princess
: Alexandra of Fife matches perfectly the
: description of the expensive tiara bought in
: 1913.
:
:
:
: Thus as a warning to all those reading
: Roberts, on page 164, footnote 3, only pay
: attention to the last reference taken from
: Garrard RL3, fol. 195, 21 April 1914; when
: reading up on the history of 'Queen Mary's
: Greek Tiara'.
:
: Also of note is that Roberts states that
: this tiara was given to the Duchess of
: Gloucester on her marriage in 1935, without
: the Sapphire or the Cullinan V brooch (this
: is when the honeysuckle motif for the
: central aperture was made). The Pink Topaz
: & Diamond Brooch (which some have
: confused as a Kunzite stone) was bequeathed
: to the Duchess in 1953.
:
:
:
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