Re: QEII's earrings with large pearls and diamonds Archived Message
Posted by Beth  on September 4, 2016, 2:30 am, in reply to "Re: QEII's earrings with large pearls and diamonds"
Many thanks for the wonderful photos Arthur. Arthur's ability to produce wonderfully illustrative photos almost instantly never ceases to amaze me.
I am now convinced that the earrings presented to Queen Mary by the ladies of Devonshire as a wedding gift are the smaller set which QEII wears to most day time engagements.
Below is an illustration from the Graphic 15 July 1893 which shows that the pearls in the gift were comparatively small.
A photograph of the first plate in Queen Mary's jewel inventory (in Roberts page 113) shows the pearls are conspicuously small in size in comparison to the pearls in the Ladies of England necklace, the Gloucester pearl stomacher and other pearl jewels in that photograph.
Photos and paintings of Queen Mary show that she continued to wear this smaller sized set until the late 1920s to early 1930s after which time she is often seen with the larger pearls and diamonds.
Even on formal occasions or for official photos where it might be expected that she would wear her grandest jewels, Queen Mary wore the smaller set of earrings, which suggests to me that she was not then in possession of the larger set of earrings.
Smaller sized earrings
1896
1901
1913
Larger earrings
Painting dated 1933-4 by the Royal Collection
1947
QEII was not photographed wearing the larger set of earrings until after Queen Mary's death, so I believe that QEII was given the original, smaller set as a wedding present by Queen Mary. More importantly there is a photo, dated 1951 by the Royal Collection, showing Queen Mary wearing the larger sized earrings. I very much doubt if Queen Mary would have borrowed the earrings for a photo session if they had been given as a gift to her grand-daughter. Queen Mary had so many grand jewels; she had no need to borrow something she may have given as a gift to her grand-daughter.
The question is when and how did Queen Mary acquire the larger set?
Of course she may have purchased them but, as she was not seen wearing them until the late 1920s I wonder if they were part of Queen Alexandra's jewels.
I have never seen a photo of Queen Alexandra wearing such a set; however, media reports of the gifts for her silver wedding anniversary in 1888 suggest to me that she was given such a set by Lord Rothschild and Mr Alfred Rothschild. Although the reports below do not specifically say the gift was a set of earrings, I cannot imagine what else the pair of solitaires were. The report in the Times specifically says the pearls were round which is why I wanted to be fairly confident that the large set of earrings now worn by QEII has round pearls. From other photos I have seen from the side and the back of these earrings, I am confident that the pearls are round.
Illustrated London News 17 March 1888
The Times 12 March 1888
Sadly, for our purposes I have not found any sketches which might prove that the pair of solitaires are earrings; however, the larger earrings worn today by QEII do not appear to have any surface blemishes, are perfectly matched in size, colour and lustre, and I think may well have been the gift of the Rothschilds.
I cannot prove the possible connection between the large sized set of earrings and the Rothschild gift to Queen Alexandra so, if anyone has photos proving that either Queen Mary wore them before Queen Alexandra's death or that the pearls are button pearls, I'll happily discard that part of my thinking as I freely acknowledge the link is tentative, although I think it is possible.
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