Thank you for posting some pictures. Unfortunately Roberts is so big it doesn't fit onto my scanner and I haven't had time to search for any other photos. I'm wondering if the bar is part of the "new" base from 1895.
--Previous Message-- : It appears that bar did not exist in the tiara : when worn by Queen Alexandra, at least in : some of the most popular pictures of her : with this piece. : The "fringes" looked more unevenly : spaced than they do now, I believe the bar : is a suport for keeping them more aligned. : : Below pics of Queen Alexandra and the : present Queen EII wearing this tiara, where : the diference can be better seen. : : : : : : : : : --Previous Message-- : On the Royal News and Views message board, a : user posted a link to a video called The : Finest Diamond Tiaras ( : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQTzkf_aYSE : ). It is a great visual feast, even if you : don't agree with the ranking. : : Not to give the rankings away, but the video : shows Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara. : This is my personal favorite out of the : British collection. However, in the video I : noticed something about it I had never : noticed before. There is what appears to be : a "support" bar about 2/3 of the : way up on the backside that runs across many : of the bars (if not all of them). I had : never noticed this before and in fact hauled : out Roberts to verify that what was being : shown on the video was indeed the actual : Kokoshnik tiara and not a duplicate. : : On page 102 of Robert, you can barely see : the bar. I had never noticed it as it almost : blends in with the gray background the tiara : was photographed on. However, on page 106, : there is a close up detail of the tiara and : you can clearly see it. A footnote on page : 101, says that a new self adjusting frame : was supplied in 1895. I am wondering if : this bar (for a lack of a better jewelry : term) is part of that self adjusting frame. : : Would any of our more knowledgeable posters : happen to know what is the purpose of the : bar? You can see from other pictures of the : tiara that sometimes the bars are a little : more open than in other pictures. I am : wondering of perhaps each diamond bar : "snaps" onto back bar for support? : Or perhaps it is there strictly for : support? I'm curious. : : Roberts also says that there were 77 : graduated bars at one time, but 16 of the : smallest have been removed. I don't think : that removal would have had much impact on : the shape since they were the smallest. : : I'd appreciate any insight other posters : might have. Thank you!! : : :
on March 29, 2016, 11:14 am, in reply to "