Re: Empress Maria Feodorovna's Sapphire tiara? Archived Message
Posted by Arthur  on July 22, 2014, 10:45 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Elizabeth, the queen-mother's Sapphire tiara"
Hello Johan,
which tiara do you mean? The only tiara worn by Queen Mary and Princess Margaret is the following tiara, which is supposed to have come from Empress Maria Feodorovna. As far as I know, it was never in the possession of the Queen-Mother (but who knows?...). At least, the Queen-Mother has never worn it publicly.
I agree this tiara would look great on Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. It is a rather small tiara (at least when compared to other tiaras in the British collection), discret but elegant, regal but not overwhelming. And it would make a very nice match with the modern design of Diana's sapphire set (supposing William, and not Harry, has inherited this set).
Nevertheless, I wonder if the attribution to Empress Maria Feodorovna is reliable. The design and style of the tiara seems rather Art Déco (so, after WW1), whereas the Empress must have built her collection before WW1, when the dominating style was Victorian or neo-classical (garland style, etc.). Moreover, I do not think we have ever seen Empress Maria Feodorovna wearing this tiara. What do you think? Are there reliable sources to document this attribution to Maria Feodorovna?
--Previous Message--
: I've been wondering why we don't see the
: saphire tiara the Queen inherited from her
: mother more often. It was worn a few times
: by her sister but has not been seen for
: ages. The tiara looked good on Queen Mary
: and might be a very effective choice for HM.
: I had hoped she'd loan it to the Duchess of
: Cambridge to go with her saphire pieces but
: with the scroll/halo tiara and the pearl
: papyrus tiara it's unlikely Catherine will
: be given the use of a third tiara any time
: soon.
:
: --Previous Message--
:
: What would I do to have photos of the 2
: others sapphire and diamonds tiaras owned
: and not worn by her Majesty (from Field)
:
: Best regards,
:
: Franck
:
: --Previous Message--
: I understand your comment (no worry, I have
: not perceived it as a personal negative
: comment against me!).
:
: You are probably right when you stress that
: the big central sapphire looks maybe too
: massive in contrast to the delicate floral
: garland arches. And the vertical position of
: the (too close) three central sapphire drops
: does not help either. I have edited my
: message to introduce a photoshopped version
: of the tiara, with the lateral drops
: slightly bent diagonally, I think it can
: improve the general look of the tiara.
:
: Anyway, I am happy that, when it was decided
: to convert the necklace into a tiara (BTW,
: we do not know if it was made before of
: after the Queen acquired it in 1963), the
: person in charge of the transformation
: respected the original design to the maximum
: and did not indulge in dismantling and
: overhauling thoroughly the design of the
: jewel: he/she respected the history and the
: integrity of the necklace, and I appreciate
: this.
:
: After, all is a question of taste, and I
: know we can "agree on our
: disagreements"... Personally, I like
: this tiara - but I have to say I also like
: Queen Elizabeth's Brazilian Aquamarine Tiara
: or Burmese Ruby Tiara, though so many
: posters here do not like them either... who
: knows, maybe I have very weird tastes!
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Arthur, your politeness is much appreciated
: and by no means my remark was meant as a
: personal dig at your appreciation of the
: parure. I do think though that apart from
: personal taste there are objective criteria
: for the success of a design.
:
: If a necklace is converted permanently into
: a tiara and still awkwardly looks like an
: upside down worn necklace something went
: wrong.
:
: With today's hairdos airy arches in a tiara
: are always a bit difficult to pull off, but
: in this particular case the main problem is
: that they don't correspond with the
: (gorgeous) large rhombical sapphire in the
: centre. That they seem to mirror the
: wearer's eye-brows certainly doesn't help.
: The two lateral square sapphires, which
: could balance the centre stone, disappear in
: the coiffure. IMO the most obvious fault is
: the tin-soldier-like upright position of the
: three central sapphire drops.
:
: All this has to do with the designer's lack
: of talent and skills - or simply his or her
: lazyness to deal with the particular
: problems caused by a conversion of an
: existing piece into something else - and not
: so much with personal taste. I see the same
: problem with the Countess of Wessex's
: wedding tiara and frankly find it quite
: surprising that neither the Queen nor
: somebody in charge with her jewellery would
: have higher demands regarding the (re)design
: of prominent pieces. It's not that nobody
: would be around who was able to meet these
: challenges!
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Just a matter of personal taste, of course,
: but I like this tiara. Of course, it still
: looks like a necklace worn upside-down
: rather than a "real" tiara, but
: the tiara mounting has been cleverly made,
: and the delicate pattern of the
: necklace/tiara fits the Queen's face quite
: well, I think.
:
: I just regret that it does not seem possible
: to turn the tiara into a necklace and
: vice-versa, at will. I would like to see it
: worn in its original form, as a necklace.
:
: I remember someone (I do not remember who,
: sorry) had posted some time ago a
: photoshopped version of the tiara, on which
: the two lateral central sapphire drops were
: mounted diagonally rather than vertically.
: Just a small (virtual) change, but the tiara
: looked better that way. Has someone saved
: this picture?
:
: --Previous Message--
:
: The sapphires have a lovely colour, but
: whoever created the tiara should not be
: allowed to come even close to any major
: piece of jewellery ever again.
:
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