Re: Cameo tiara Empress Josephine HQ pic Archived Message
Posted by Arthur on October 23, 2014, 6:34 pm, in reply to "Re: Cameo tiara Empress Josephine HQ pic"
Thank you, Mauriz, for the HQ pic. And you are right about the making of the tiara. I can confirm that this tiara is not only beautiful, but also of a very singular beauty. It was displayed at the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris a few months ago, at the exhibition "Joséphine", organized to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of Empress Joséphine on 29th May, 1814. According to the catalogue of the exhibition, the tiara is made of a single shell of Cassis Cornuta, and its shape follows the convex shape of the shell. This "shell cameo" ("camée-coquille" in French) is engraved with five medaillons surrounded by wreath- or beads-edging. The medaillons represent Apollo's chariot in the centre, and four allegories of the Seasons, represented by putti, on the sides. Between the medaillons are coloured precious stones (rubies, emeralds, turquoises) mounted on gold flower motifs. (...) The tiara could have been made in the workshops of La Torre del Greco, a city of the province of Naples, famous for its cameo and coral production. The reputation of the city grew after 1805, when Ferdinand IV (1751-1825), King of Naples, granted a monopoly to the city. The tiara could be a present from Joachim Murat, husband of Caroline Bonaparte and King of Naples from 1808 to 1814, to his sister-in-law Empress Joséphine. At the end of the 19th century, it was in the possession of comedian Charles Le Bargy (1858-1936), associate of the 'Comédie Française' and one of the major figures of the French stage. The amateur and collector of objects of arts and of old jewels Georges Chapsal (1853-1940) acquired the tiara circa 1906, and donated it, along his with whole collection of jewels, to the Musée Masséna in Nice. The dimensions of the tiara are 6.7 cms high, 17 cms large and 20 cms deep. At the exhibition, I could take several pictures of the jewels:
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