Re: Queen Alexandra wearing pearl elements separately Archived Message
Posted by Beth1 on September 28, 2014, 8:41 pm, in reply to "Re: Queen Alexandra wearing pearl elements separately"
What interesting questions you have posed Arthur. I am sure that someone has a copy of a much older photo of the necklace (with the tiara placed above it). That might assist us. I notice that the photo in Field is the same as what you posted; yet at the time QEQM was still alive and the diamonds she used to extend the necklace were more than likely to have been attached as she wore the jewel constantly. Still, we have the query of the shaped fitting to the jewel box, which does not correspond, in my opinion, to the diamond extension of QEQM. Does anyone have a close view of QA wearing this necklace on her wedding day? That might give us an idea of whether she shortened the necklace. On the other hand, I would think that, if there were additional elements to hand, QEQM would have been likely to have used them to extend the necklace when she commenced wearing it. Your questions will keep us all thinking for a while, I suspect. --Previous Message-- : Thank you, Baxter and Beth1! Your pics are : very conclusive. : : So the brooch in Angela Kelly's book, with : 12 diamonds in the outer circle of diamonds, : can not be the Cambridge pearl and diamond : brooch (which has 14 diamonds). Moreover, : the proportion diameter of the central : pearl/width of the diamond surround is : bigger in the Cambridge brooch than in : Kelly's brooch. : : The brooch in Kelly's book is probably a : cluster from Queen Alexandra's wedding pearl : and diamond parure, as the pictures posted : by Baxter and Beth1 indicate. The remaining : question is: is the brooch one of the : necklace's cluster, or is it an extra : brooch, which is not accounted for in the : wedding gifts' pictures? : : We know that all the clusters from the : necklace are detachable, since Queen : Alexandra wore them pinned as brooches on : the collerette of her Coronation dress: : : : : But I wonder if the necklace, which : currently includes eight clusters, did not : include originally more clusters. What makes : me think that is this undated picture of the : parure in its presentation box: : : : : As you can see, the necklace on this picture : includes eight pearl clusters, as it was : worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, : and as it is today (as photographed in Hugh : Roberts' The Queen's Diamonds ) (minus the : lenghtening of the diamond links at the : back, at the Queen Mother's request in : 1937). : We can also see that the inside of the box : is moulded to fit perfectly the shape of the : necklace. But at the top, we can notice that : the necklace does not go fully around the : moulded shape, and that space remains for : three more pearl clusters (and their diamond : links). : : Therefore, I wonder (but this is just : speculation from me, as I have not more : reliable information) if Queen Alexandra : could have shortened the original necklace : by three pearl clusters and used them as : brooches. : : What do you think? : : : --Previous Message-- : Thank you so much Airgette and Baxter for : your : insights. I am intrigued. : Queen Alexandra was photographed wearing : what appear to be elements from her wedding : gift necklace separately. I have no idea if : what I have found matches anything either of : you referred to, but clearly at least one : other brooch does/did exist, (if not more). : Here it would appear that several pearl and : diamond elements from her wedding necklace : are attached to a dark velvet band. : : : http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw132025/Queen-Alexandra-as-Mary-Queen-of-Scots?LinkID=mp00072&displayNo=60&wPage=2&role=sit&rNo=152 : I would love to know more about other jewel : elements she is wearing. Apart from an : element from her wedding tiara and her : Dagmar necklace most are unknown to me. : : Wearing a brooch similar to what Airgette : described - here underneath her wedding : brooch : : : http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw82661/Queen-Alexandra?LinkID=mp00072&displayNo=60&wPage=3&role=sit&rNo=209 : As the first link shows, the pearl pendants : can be removed and so probably one of any : size could be attached. : : Similarly in this photo the single pearl and : drop is worn under her wedding brooch. : : : http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw126433/Queen-Alexandra-King-Edward-VII?LinkID=mp00072&displayNo=60&wPage=3&role=sit&rNo=225 : : A single pearl brooch -- the last brooch in : her series of brooches in this painting : : : http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw147761/Queen-Alexandra?LinkID=mp00072&displayNo=60&wPage=5&role=sit&rNo=341 : : :
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