[ Message Archive | Royal Jewels of the World Message Board ]

    Re: Queen Marie-Amélie's sapphire and pearl tiara Archived Message

    Posted by karenl on August 30, 2015, 5:54 pm, in reply to "Re: Queen Marie-Amélie's sapphire and pearl tiara"


    Authur, thank you for interesting info and the lovely photos especially those of the late Countess of Paris, a much missed Royal lady.
    --Previous Message--
    : Thank you, Baxter, for this beautiful picture
    : of this gorgeous tiara! I fully understand
    : that it is your favorite tiara!
    :
    :
    :
    :
    : http://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/isabelle-de-france-countess-of-paris-at-home-la-comtesse-de-news-photo/160729299
    :
    : In a special jewellery edition of Images du
    : monde (the trimestrial supplement of Point
    : de vue ), published in November 2009,
    : Vincent Meylan has given a thorough account
    : of the story of this sapphire and pearl
    : parure:
    :
    : - in 1864, Queen Marie-Amélie (then widowed
    : and exiled in Britain) decided to give her
    : sapphire and diamond parure (bought in the
    : late 1810s by the Duke of Orléans, later
    : King Louis-Philippe, from Queen Hortense of
    : Beauharnais, daughter of Empress Joséphine)
    : to her grand-children Louis-Philippe, 1st
    : Count of Paris (son of Ferdinand, Duke of
    : Orléans, himself the eldest son of King
    : Louis-Philippe and Queen Marie-Amélie) and
    : Infanta Isabelle of Orléans-Bourbon
    : (daughter of Antoine, Duke of Montpensier,
    : himself the youngest son of King
    : Louis-Philippe and Marie-Amélie), on the
    : occasion of their wedding. This parure
    : included the necklace and earrings visible
    : on the portrait of Marie-Amélie posted by
    : Baxter, as well as a tiara made with the
    : detachable elements pinned on Marie-Amélie's
    : dress, a large corsage brooch and two
    : smaller brooches. This parure was later
    : inherited by each head of the French Royal
    : Family. In 1985, the (second) Count of Paris
    : sold it to the Louvre Museum, where it still
    : can be seen today.
    :
    : - Queen Marie-Amélie retained with her the
    : sapphire, pearl and diamond tiara visible on
    : the portrait posted by Baxter, as well as
    : three brooches, which were slightly
    : transformed to add pearl elements to match
    : the tiara. A pair of earrings was also added
    : to this "second" parure. This
    : other parure was bequeathed by Queen
    : Marie-Amélie, at her death in 1866, to her
    : youngest son Antoine, Duke of Montpensier
    : (and Infante of Spain through his marriage
    : to Infanta Louisa-Ferdinanda). The Duke of
    : Montpensier bequeathed the parure to his
    : daughter... Isabella, wife of the first
    : Count of Paris! Therefore, the two parures,
    : which had been divided, were reunited again,
    : in the possession of the successive heads of
    : the Royal Family, until 1985.
    :
    : Quite strangely, the second Countess of
    : Paris (1911-2003, also named Isabelle!) wore
    : very often the "first" parure, but
    : almost never the "second" one. The
    : only occasion I have seen pictures of her
    : wearing the tiara (without the rest of the
    : "second" parure) was in 1955, for
    : the pre-wedding ball of Princess Maria-Pia
    : of Italy and Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia:
    :
    :
    :
    : The "second" parure was later
    : given (or loaned) by the Count and Countess
    : of Paris to their daughter-in-law,
    : Marie-Thérèse of Wurttemberg, Countess of
    : Clermont (now Duchess of Montpensier), who
    : wore it frequently in the 1960s:
    :
    :
    :
    : The sapphire, pearl and diamond parure
    : remained in the possession of the (second)
    : Count of Paris until 1996, when it was sold
    : at auction, at Sotheby's. According to
    : Vincent Meylan in the aforementioned
    : article, it was bought by a Saudi
    : businessman, but was never paid, as the
    : buyer had some financial difficulties. It
    : would have been sold a few weeks later in
    : Britain.
    :
    : As I had mentioned on this board a few
    : months ago, a young woman called LouLou
    : Stoffel (of whom I know nothing) was
    : pictured in March 2005 wearing a pair of
    : earrings which looks strikingly like the
    : pair of earrings of the "second"
    : parure:
    :
    :
    :
    :
    :
    :

    Message Thread: