--Previous Message-- : Jinjia; many thanks for this great overview. I : must say that I agree with all your : inferences and points. I myself an in the : process of researching into more detail what : is mentioned in Roberts and have been : compiling some very detailed notes, from : other Secondary and Primary sources. : : For example: : : Queen Mary’s Ladies of England : Necklace/Tiara : This jewel was a wedding gift to Queen : Mary in 1893 from “650 Ladies of : England”,[1] and was made in Hunt and : Roskell.[2] It was described in The Times, : as a “pearl and diamond ornament … made up : of scrolls wrought in diamonds over : fleur-de-lis in larger stones. From each : group hangs a drop-pearl, that falling from : the centre cluster being fully an inch in : length”.[3] It was exhibited at the : Imperial Institute among some of her other : wedding gifts, as photographed in The : Graphic.[4] : It was designed to be worn both as a : tiara,[5] as a necklace,[6] and as a : bandeau to trim the corsage of a gown, as it : was worn to the Devonshire House Ball in : 1897;[7] and it could also be detached “so : as to be converted into several smaller : ornaments”.[8] It was featured in Volume I : of Queen Mary’s Photographic jewellery : inventory,[9] and Queen Mary also kept a : record of all the 650 ladies who had : subscribed to the gift in a special : presentation volume.[10] : Queen Mary wrote to Lady Elizabeth : Biddulph in June 1893, asking her to “accept : and convey to the ladies of England my : grateful thanks for the very beautiful : necklace”.[11] She also wrote a letter to : Lady Eva Greville in July of that year, in : which she described the tiara as one of her : “most valued wedding gifts as a precious : proof of your good will and affection”.[12] : However, by 1913 the decision was taken : to dismantle this tiara. “12 pearl drops” : from this tiara,[13] and the majority of : the diamonds were used to create ‘Queen : Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara’.[14] With the : remaining “33 brilliants and 3 rose : diamonds” being used to create ‘Queen Mary’s : Greek Tiara’.[15] : : Notes : [1] Bow Bells , 7 July 1893, p. 32 : [2] Hugh Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, : (London: Royal Collection Publications, : 2012), p. 182 : [3] The Times, 24 June 1893, p. 14 : [4] The Graphic , 15 July 1893, p. 88 : [5] Suzy Menkes, The Royal Jewels, (London: : Grafton Books, 1985), p. 65 : [6] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 146 : (RCIN 2808111) : [7] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 138 : (RCIN 4926140) : [8] The Times , 24 June 1893, p. 14 : [9] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 113; : RA QM/PRIV/CC93, pl. 5a, no. 4 : [10] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 182; : RA QM/PRIV/CC64 : [11] The Times , 28 June 1893, p. 10 : [12] The Times , 10 July 1893, p. 6 : [13] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 182 : [14] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 182; : GA Garrard RL3, fol. 94, 23 January 1914 : [15] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 164; : GA Garrard RL3, fol. 95, 21 April 1914 : : Queen Mary's County of Surrey : Necklace/Tiara : This tiara was a wedding-gift to Queen : Mary in 1893 from the County of Surrey, and : was presented to her by the Earl of : Lovelace, in his capacity as Lord-Lieutenant : of the county. It was described in The Times : as being a tiara “composed entirely of : brilliants of large size and … convertible : at will into a necklace”.[1] : It was illustrated among her wedding : gifts in the Illustrated London News,[2] : and was exhibited at the Imperial Institute : among the three tiaras that featured in the : exhibition of the wedding-gifts TRHs had : received; a photograph from this exhibition : featured in The Graphic.[3] This tiara also : features in Queen Mary’s photographic : jewellery inventory.[4] : This piece was photographed being worn as : a necklace, along with ‘Queen Mary’s : Boucheron Loop Tiara’,[5] by W & D : Downey, to mark the visit of the then Prince : and Princess of Wales to India between 1905 : and 1906.[6] It was also photographed being : worn as a tiara by Queen Mary with ‘Queen : Mary’s Kapurthala Stomacher’.[7] : It was dismantled in 1913, with the : biggest “13 large brilliants” being used : “furnish tops to [Queen Mary's] Girls of : Great Britain [and Ireland] Tiara in place : of pearls”, for the cost of £34.[8] : The rest of the stones were used to : create a new “Greek honeysuckle pattern : Tiara”, ‘Queen Mary’s Greek Tiara’.[9] : : Notes : [1] The Times , 23 June 1893, p. 10 : [2] Illustrated London News , 6 July 1893 : [3] The Graphic , 15 July 1893, p. 88 : [4]Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 139; RA : QM/PRIV/CC93, pl. 5a, no. 1. : [5] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 156 : (RCIN 2808148); Geoffrey Munn, Tiaras: A : History of Splendor, (London: Antique : Collectors’ Club, 2001), p. 132. : [6] Munn, Tiaras, p. 133 : [7] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 194 : (Note: This picture shows the tiara being : worn in the base of the ‘Girls and Great : Britain Tiara’). : [8] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 136, : GA Garrard RL3, fol. 95, 21 April 1914; : RA JEWEL/GARRARD/QM, fol. 80, no. 2. : [9] Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds, p. 164; : GA Garrard RL3, fol. 95, 21 April 1914 : : I am in the process of compiling notes as : detailed and well referenced as these; on : every jewel mentioned in the various : publications of Royal Jewellery Scholarship. : It is my new project. : : : --Previous Message-- : I like the fact that Hugh Roberts organizes : his book The Queen's Diamonds by successive : queens, but it is a little hard to trace the : history of Queen Mary's tiaras. I wish he : had grouped them together and described the : many changes in one place. : : Queen Mary's original 1893 wedding gift : tiaras could also be worn as necklaces. : This was true of the very similar gifts from : the County of Surrey and Queen Victoria, and : of the gifts from the Ladies of England and : the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland. : (Roberts says three tiaras were exhibited. : Maybe that was because Queen Mary wore Queen : Victoria's gift as a tiara at her wedding.) : : Of these four wedding gifts, only the Girls : tiara has survived, in slightly altered : form, Queen Mary's urge to have new pieces : made as she matured and reigns succeeded : each other. This tiara was given to : Princess Elizabeth at her wedding in 1947 : and it has probably become her favorite : tiara. No one seems to have been : photographed wearing the Girls tiara as a : necklace. Queen Mary did wear it once as a : coronet. : : The County of Surrey necklace/tiara provided : the large diamonds later placed atop the : Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara in : place of the upright pearls, and part of the : diamonds for the honeysuckle tiara Queen : Mary had made in 1914. She gave the : honeysuckle tiara to the Duchess of : Gloucester in 1935. : : The diamonds from Queen Victoria's : necklace/tiara gift became the Fringe tiara : in 1919. Perhaps because of its history, : this tiara was worn by Princess Elizabeth : and Princess Anne for their weddings. The : Queen has now inherited Queen Mary's Fringe : tiara from her mother, to whom Queen Mary : gave it, and has worn it once in recent : years. : : Part of the diamonds from the Ladies of : England tiara became the Lover's Knot tiara : in 1914, along with the upright pearls from : the Girls tiara. Queen Mary evidently : decided upright pearls were out of style, : since she eventually had them removed from : the Lover's Knot tiara also. The rest of : the diamonds from the Ladies of England : tiara were used in the honeysuckle tiara now : worn by the Duchess of Gloucester. : : The tiaras Queen Mary had made or acquired : later were rigid and worn only as tiaras. : : The Crescents tiara that she inherited from : her mother in 1897 had been assembled for : the Duchess of Teck from a collection of : diamond roses and crescents. This tiara, : like several heirloom pieces of jewelry, has : survived in the Queen's collection. It was : worn at least once by Queen Elizabeth and : several times by Princess Margaret. Roberts : says it is loaned now to the Duchess of : Cornwall, but she has not worn it. : : Another early tiara that was broken up was : the Boucheron loop tiara, which was made in : 1902 from stones given to Queen Mary, then : Princess of Wales, by deBeers in 1901. It : was worn for the Coronation of King Edward : VII in 1902, along with the County of Surrey : gift as a necklace. See Nellie's photo at : : : : http://members2.boardhost.com/royal-jewels/msg/1338253778.html : : The loop tiara was broken up and the deBeers : diamonds were used again in 1911 to make the : Delhi Durbar tiara. This tiara has been : used with the Cambridge emeralds and two of : the Cullinan diamonds, but those have all : been removed. Roberts remarks that the : front of the Delhi Durbar tiara has been : slightly altered, but doesn't describe the : alterations. Obviously, some small diamonds : were removed from the top, and the space on : the front where a Cullinan was worn has been : filled with other diamonds. Queen Eizabeth : (later QM) and the Duchess of Cornwall have : each worn the Delhi Durbar tiara once. : : Queen Mary acquired the Vladimir loop tiara : in 1921. The only change she made was to : have the Cambridge emeralds fitted as : alternates to the pearl drops. Like the : Fringe tiara, this one has needed to be : rebuilt, but its design was not changed. : The Queen frequently wears the Vladimir : tiara. : : Other tiaras acquired by Queen Mary have : gone to different parts of her family and : are not covered in the Roberts book. This : is true of the Kent sapphires and other Kent : tiaras, some of the Gloucester tiaras, and : some of the Harewood tiaras. During the : early 20th century, Queen Victoria's tiaras : were scattered among her descendants. A : complete history of all of those tiaras : would also be very nice to have. : : I hope this summary will prove useful. : Please feel free to correct it and add : information as necessary! : : : : : :
on June 1, 2012, 4:20 pm, in reply to "