Re: Empress Eugenie's Feuilles de Groseillier brooch auctioned Archived Message
Posted by Lorenzo on October 9, 2014, 6:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Empress Eugenie's Feuilles de Groseillier brooch auctioned"
Fabulous !!! --Previous Message-- : Wow! I always feel a shiver in my spine when I : see one of these historical jewels : resurface! : : I really hope that the Louvre Museum will : try (and succeed in) to buy this brooch!!! : : : : The 'parure de groseillier' (currant leaf : parure) of the French Crown Jewels was made : in 1855 by Bapst for Empress Eugénie, wife : of Napoleon III. According to the : description made in Bernard Morel's book : Les Joyaux de la Couronne de France , the : parure included: : : - a 'garland', which could be used as a : necklace, made of 16 brooches in the shape : of currant leaves. Each brooch was : detachable and could be worn on its own. The : nine frontal brooches and the clasp brooch : had 16 "pampilles" (lines of : diamond collets) dangling from them. The : brooch which is to be sold at Christie's in : November is one of these brooches : : - a 'tour de corsage' (corsage girdle) made : of 29 diamond currant leaves, alternating : with large diamond collets, around a central : group of three currant leaves centred on a : 16.95 carat diamond. This diamond had : formerly been mounted on Napoleon I’s swords : in 1803 and 1812 and on Charles X’s hat’s : cockade in 1824. Large pear-shaped diamonds : were hooked to each currant leaf and to each : diamond collet. In the whole, this girdle : included more than 5000 diamonds! : : - a large devant-de-corsage brooch, made at : the top of three currant leaves centred : around a large 20.03 carat diamond which had : been previously mounted on Empress : Marie-Louise’s diamond hair comb and on the : frontal arch of King Charles X’s crown. : Hanging from this top group are an extra : currant leaf and seven groups of diamonds : forming currant grapes. : : The parure did not include a tiara, a : bracelet or a pair of earrings. But of : course, Empress Eugénie owned a lot of other : diamond jewels that she could combine with : the currant leaf parure. : : When the Government of the Third Republic : decided to sell the Crown Jewels at auction : in 1887, it was decided to divide the : garland and the girdle into several pieces : (the republican authorities probably : considered that these jewels were so large : and extraordinary that it would be almost : impossible to sell them in two single lots). : The garland was divided into 8 lots, several : of them being bought by Bapst, Garrard or : Tiffany. The corsage girdle was divided into : several lots, but all of them were bought by : Tiffany, who also bought the large : devant-de-corsage brooch. : : Here is a picture of this parure, exhibited : in 1884, along with other diamond jewels (on : the second picture, I have identified in red : the elements of the currant leaf parure): : : : : : Here are pictures of the parure prior to the : auction in 1887: : : - the garland, divided into several brooches : (I think that the brooch which is to be : auctioned in November is the one on the top : right of the picture): : : : : - the corsage girdle, also divided into : several sections: : : : : - the devant-de-corsage: : : : : Several brooches from the garland were seen : in exhibitions or in auctions in the recent : years: : : - auction at Sotheby’s, on 29th June 2004: : : http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2004/jewels-antique-period-and-contemporary-l04053/lot.78.html : : : : - exhibition in Brussels, Belgium : "Brilliant Europe, Jewels of the : European courts" (October 2007-February : 2008). The brooch was reported in the : catalogue as being part of a private : collection: : : : : - exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium, : "Diamond Divas" (April-June 2008): : the brooch which is to be sold at auction : next November was exhibited. It was loaned : by New-York’s Metropolitan Opera Guild: : : : : - auction at Doyle’s, New York, in 2011: : : http://www.doylenewyork.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=11JL02+++308+&refno=++804095 : : : : : I think that this same brooch was diplayed : in October 2013 in London at the exhibition : "A Brilliant Legacy: Treasures from : the Tiffany Archives": : : http://www.jewelsdujour.com/2013/10/two-exhibitions-at-tiffany-co-s-london-boutique/ : Apparently, it has been bought back by : Tiffany’s. : : : : : : --Previous Message-- : : : http://artdaily.com/news/73455/Empress-Eugenie-s-Feuilles-de-Groseillier-brooch-to-be-offered-at-Christie-s-Geneva : : : :
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