Re: November Jewel Auctions - Catherine the Great's Dog Collar Necklace Archived Message
Posted by JohnAF  on October 27, 2016, 3:51 pm, in reply to "Re: November Jewel Auctions - Catherine the Great's Dog Collar Necklace"
Malluu, thank you for these posts, they are very interesting and informative and I also enjoyed looking through the online auction site.
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: Historic and magnificent diamond jewel,
: Russia, second half of the 18th century and
: later
: Sotheby's - Lot 326
: estimate $3,041,538-$5,072,668
:
:
:
: From Sotheby's
: "Composed of an articulated band set
: with slightly graduated cushion-shaped
: diamonds, within a border of drop-shaped
: motifs similarly set; and a ribbon bow motif
: set with cushion-shaped diamonds in an
: open-work floral and foliate pattern, length
: approximately 355mm, numbered, band and bow
: later assembled with the addition of two
: extra links to the band, fitted case for the
: band and the bow in their original forms,
: one small diamond deficient.
:
: Provenance
: The Imperial Russian Crown Jewels, The
: Diamond Fund, circa 1760 – 1917
: The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics,
: 1917 – 1925
: Consortium of dealers, 1925 – 1927
: Messrs Christie, Manson & Woods, 1927
: S.J. Philips, 1927 - 1960s
: Purchased from S.J Philips during the 1960s
: Private Collection, 1960s – 2005
: Purchased at Sotheby’s Geneva in November
: 2005 by the present owner
:
: Catalogue Note
:
: Introduction to the Russian Crown Jewels
:
: Russia’s Diamond Treasure is composed of the
: best portion of the State jewels and
: Regalia, formerly the property of the Tsars.
: Founded in 1719 by Peter the Great to
: distinguish the wealth of the Romanov
: Dynasty and known as the Diamond Fund, the
: Romanov Treasures ever since the 18th
: century, had been stored in the “Diamond
: Room” in the Palais d’Hiver in St
: Petersburg. Under the official denomination
: of “Regalia and Crown Jewels”, the treasure
: was entrusted to the care of the appointed
: keeper and not a single article of the
: Regalia or Crown Jewels was ever allowed to
: be taken out of the “Diamond Room” without
: “a written sealed order and only in the
: presence of a trustee (or trustees)
: especially appointed by H.I.M.”.
: Throughout the centuries, the Tsars
: accumulated a vast quantity of personal
: jewellery. Although Peter the Great (1672,
: 1689-1725) practised austerity, he did
: acquire many jewels for his consort
: Catherine I and his daughter Elizabeth
: (probably accounting for 20% of the total).
: Catherine II the Great (1729, 1762-1796),
: whose extravagance in dress and luxury
: reached standards experienced neither before
: or since, added the largest number of jewels
: to the Imperial collection (40%). She lived
: at a time of very high standards of artistic
: work and she was able to obtain the services
: of highly skilled jewellers. About 25% were
: added by Alexander I and Nicholas I. The
: remaining 15% were added by the later Tsars.
: At the outbreak of the First World War, a
: decision was taken to move the treasure to
: Moscow. Agathon Faberge, the Court Jeweller,
: was ordered to send the Crown jewels to
: Moscow under special escort. This was done
: under the supervision of Mr. Bentichev,
: Trustee of “H.I.M. Wardrobe Service”. The
: removal of the strong boxes was carried out
: in such haste that not even an itemised list
: of the jewels was prepared on their leaving
: St Petersburg. In Moscow, the jewels were
: confiscated and stored in the Kremlin where
: they remained untouched, sealed in several
: cases, until after the war. Agathon Faberge
: was then persuaded to sit on a commission to
: value the regalia and Crown jewels. The job
: lasted from autumn 1921 to spring 1923; each
: item was photographed and the weight of each
: stone, wherever possible, was recorded. A
: catalogue was finally published in 1925,
: under the general supervision of Prof A.E.
: Fersman, titled Russia’s Treasure of
: Diamonds and Precious Stones. This work was
: published in Russian, French, English and
: German. It seems that it was the intention
: of the Soviet to sell the collection in
: order to raise much needed foreign currency
: to aid the fledging communist regime, but
: this decision was retracted and after a
: while the catalogue itself was withdrawn.
: The treasures of the Tsars were first
: exhibited to the public in 1925 in Moscow.
: After the catalogue was compiled, a number
: of jewels were however sold to a syndicate
: of British and American buyers whose
: identity is not known. The jewels were
: brought to London and most of them were
: offered at auction at a sale of “The Russian
: State Jewels” held by Messrs Christie Manson
: & Wood on 16 March 1927. The collection
: of Russian jewels sold after the publication
: of the catalogue to the Anglo-American
: syndicate included some important ornaments,
: but the intention of the Russian authorities
: seems to have been to retain, as part of the
: national heritage, those ornaments which
: were of historical importance or artistic
: merit. Dispersed to a number of buyers, some
: of these jewels have later resurfaced at
: public auction, notably:
:
: The Nuptial Crown: sold by Sotheby’s Parke
: Bernet in New York in 1966,
: A collection of ten flower ornaments:
: assembled into a necklace by A La Vieille
: Russie in New York and sold by Sotheby’s New
: York in April 1998,
: A floral brooch: sold by Sotheby’s London in
: December 2004,
: A set of two floral brooches mounted as
: earrings: sold by Sotheby’s London in May
: 2005,
: The diamond ornament: sold by Sotheby’s
: Geneva in November 2005 and reoffered in
: this auction.
:
: This diamond necklace with bow knot
: attachment is not only a remarkable jewel in
: itself, but its Russian royal provenance
: puts it in a class of its own. It evokes the
: blinding splendour of Catherine II, Empress
: of Russia: the magnificence of her court,
: her parks, her palaces, her art collections,
: and monuments. The most striking and
: colourful figure on the stage of European
: political life, for thirty four years she
: ruled a mighty empire which stretched from
: Siberia to Poland and left it stronger,
: larger and richer than when she came to the
: throne in 1762. After her death in 1796, her
: friend the Prince de Ligne, who had named
: her Catherine the Great, declared that this
: title - which has never been lost - resumed
: all her genius, courage, sense of justice,
: and force of character.
:
: Using her court as a stage, she played the
: part of an autocratic but enlightened ruler
: to perfection, imposing in her public
: appearances, kind and charming in private.
: The French ambassador, the Comte de Ségur
: who noticed how “her majestic head and brow,
: proud look and dignified deportment made her
: seem taller than she was”, was also
: impressed by her feminine grace “her
: aquiline nose, well-shaped mouth, Saxe blue
: eyes beneath dark lashes, gentle glance and
: seductive smile”. In spite of her success,
: she once confided to the Prince de Ligne
: that she could have served Russia better if
: she had been born a man. Ever the courtier,
: he assured her that being a woman was a
: positive advantage. “Believe me, you are so
: much more impressive in your beautiful
: embroidered orange red velvet dolman or
: tunic than a man decked out in boots and
: shoulder sash can ever be. In addition the
: five huge diamonds blazing out from your
: hair are far more effective than a man’s hat
: which is either ridiculously small or
: ridiculously big”. He was right. Her diamond
: jewellery proclaimed her power and her rank
: as Empress and appealed to the Russian taste
: for sumptuous goods. It impressed the Rev.
: William Coxe, visiting St Petersburg in
: 1778: “the glory and the splendour of the
: clothing of the court and abundance of
: precious stones leave the opulence of other
: European courts far behind” and his opinion
: was shared by the acute Madame de Stael who
: observed: “this people prefers magnificence
: to domestic tranquillity”.
:
: In 1764, recognising that grand jewellery
: was an integral part of the Russian court
: tradition she transformed the Imperial
: Bedchamber in the south east corner of the
: Winter Palace into the Brilliant Room
: described by the German visitor Johann
: Georgi: “Her room is like a priceless jewel
: case. The regalia is laid out on a table
: under a great crystal globe through which
: everything can be examined in detail… The
: walls of the room are lined with glass
: cabinets containing numerous pieces of
: jewellery set with diamonds and other
: precious stones as well as insignia and
: portraits of Her Imperial Majesty, snuff
: boxes, watches and chains drawing
: instruments, signet rings, bracelets, sword
: belts and other priceless treasures among
: which the Empress chooses presents for
: giving away”.
:
: Throughout her long reign the collection was
: continually increasing by purchase and by
: gifts, including diamonds, coloured stones,
: pearls, Chinese filigree and Indian Mughal
: ornaments. All new acquisitions, which were
: supervised by two men, Glazumov and Aduarov,
: were either brought in from abroad, or
: ordered from the colony of Russian and
: foreign jewellers and goldsmiths resident in
: St Petersburg. The four main suppliers to
: the Empress were Leopold Pfisterer, engaged
: by Prince Dimitri Michailovitch Golitsyn,
: Russian ambassador to Vienna in 1763, who
: signed a six year contract but remained in
: St Petersburg for thirty-four more years,
: Jérémie Pauzié of Geneva and his compatriot
: Louis David Duval who, in 1789 with Jacob
: David Duval founded the firm Louis David
: Duval and Son.
:
: Those jewels, such as this ornament which
: have survived from this display, demonstrate
: that during the second half of the
: eighteenth century the art of jewellery in
: Europe reached a summit of elegant design
: and execution never equalled since. Although
: those made in St Petersburg for a Russian
: clientèle are that much grander, with bigger
: stones and ordered in larger quantities than
: elsewhere, yet the standard of refinement
: was high enough to satisfy the most
: fashionable and exacting European taste.
: Commanding huge revenues and the mineral
: wealth of the Urals there was no limit to
: what Catherine II could afford, and in 1792
: she decided to transfer her jewels for
: display in a new, more spacious Brilliant
: Room decorated in classical Russian style,
: hung with paintings by Antony van Dyck and
: with the celebrated Peacock clock of James
: Cox in the centre. But Catherine II did not
: concentrate all her interest in brilliant
: gem set jewellery to the exclusion of other
: types of craftsmanship. As she adored
: tobacco, under her patronage the goldsmiths
: of St Petersburg, Paris and Berlin perfected
: their skills of enamelling and chasing while
: producing innumerable exquisite snuff boxes
: for her pleasure. An inventory of 1789 lists
: the various items which add up to a
: collection of some of the most exquisite
: jewels and objets de vertu created during
: the eighteenth century.
:
: This jewel conjures up a picture of the
: Empress, escorted by six pet greyhounds
: choosing jewels for a state occasion in the
: Brilliant Room, then moving next door to her
: chambre de toilette. There a hairdresser
: might crown her piled up hair with a Russian
: style kokochnik tiara, aigrette, or jewelled
: pins, perhaps those designed as bow knots
: similar to that attached to this ornament,
: which are still in the Kremlin. Afterwards,
: dressed in her picturesque loose sleeved
: Muscovite style gown she would proceed to a
: reception, a gala dinner or court ball. Even
: in her final years, her stately appearance
: continued to fascinate, as the artist
: Elizabeth Vigée Lebrun describes “although
: not tall, with her erect head, eagle eye and
: countenance so used to command, all was so
: symbolic of majesty that she looked as if
: she were Queen of the World. She wore the
: ribbons of the three Orders over a dress of
: noble simplicity. It consisted of a red
: velvet dolman over a gold embroidered white
: muslin tunic with wide pleated sleeves,
: turned back in oriental fashion. Instead of
: ribbons, the most beautiful diamonds were
: scattered over the cap covering her white
: hair”. Similarly a diamond ornament such as
: this, worn as part of a parure drawing all
: eyes towards her, would also have enhanced
: that incomparable aura which set the Empress
: Catherine apart from her subjects. With such
: a history the possession of a jewel of this
: quality and rarity would surely be the glory
: of any modern collection.
:
: History of the Jewel
:
: The diamond band and the bow offered here
: are described as a “necklace” and a “brooch”
: and reproduced in Fersman’s Russia’s
: Treasure of Diamonds and Precious Stones,
: respectively as numbers 195 on plate XCV and
: number 128 on plate LXVI. This confirms that
: at the time of the 1922 inventory the
: diamond band and the bow were not joined
: together to form a necklace but were
: considered as two separate ornaments. The
: differences in manufacture techniques
: confirm this.
: Fersman dates the bow to the second half of
: the 18th century but does not suggest a date
: for the necklace. In the picture published
: in the book, the necklace is shown as a band
: of twenty-five cushion-shaped diamonds,
: without the added diamond links at the end
: with which it is now offered.
: Stylistically the bow for its design and
: close setting in silver is consistent with
: jewellery production of the 1760s, while the
: band, both in design and manufacture,
: suggests a very slightly later date,
: possibly around 1780. It is more likely that
: the band, in its original form, did not have
: the scroll terminals which appear in both
: Fersman and Messrs Christie, Manson and Wood
: catalogues, but simply consisted of a line
: of twenty-five diamonds terminating at each
: end with a silver loop. This would have been
: consistent with traditional design of 18th
: century necklaces which were fastened by
: means of a fabric ribbon threated through
: the loop ends. However, the Roman numerals
: inscribed on the side of the links seem to
: indicate that the present band is now
: shorter than it may have originally been in
: the 18th century. The band presents close
: similarities with details of a set of
: diamond dress ornaments kept in the Kremlin
: (Cf.: Olga Gorewa, Joyaux du Trésor de
: Russie, Paris, 1990, pg. 55). It is indeed
: possible that the jewel was also used in the
: 18th century as a dress ornament, a simple
: ribbon of diamonds directly stitched to the
: fabric material of a court dress as it was
: customary at the time.
: The design of the diamond bow is very
: similar to that of a pair of ruby, spinel
: and diamond bows dated 1760s and attributed
: to Jérémie Pauzié, kept in the Kremlin (Cf.:
: Olga Gorewa, Joyaux du Trésor de Russie,
: Paris, 1990, pgs. 43 and 51; illustrated on
: the next page). Although one must consider
: the possibility that the bow brooch might
: have been commissioned under the reign of
: Elisabeth Petrovna (1742-1761), whose court
: was the most brilliant of the time and
: surpassed in the display of wealth and
: luxury the court of Versailles, it is more
: likely that both jewels were commissioned by
: Catherine the Great whose extravagance in
: dress, jewels and luxury reached standards
: never reached before or after in Russia.
: During her reign (1762-1796), Catherine the
: Great is known for having added the largest
: number of jewels to the Imperial Collection
: (approximately 40%). She lived at a time of
: very high standards of artistic work and she
: was able to obtain services of highly
: skilled French and Swiss jewellers such as
: Pauzié and Duval.
: The diamond band is described and
: illustrated as lot 71 in Messrs Christie,
: Manson & Woods 1927 catalogue of “The
: Russian State Jewels”. Lord Twinnings, in A
: History of the Crown Jewels of Europe
: (London, 1960), provides a “Summary of the
: Russian State Jewels” sold at auction in
: 1927. He states the band was purchased by
: the London jewellers S.J. Philips for
: £2,700. The bow is not illustrated in the
: 1927 catalogue but the description of lot 59
: fits the jewel: “a diamond knot-of-riband
: brooch, with cluster centre”. This lot was
: bought also by S.J. Philips for £300.
: The two jewels were probably sold together
: to a client in the 1960s; they remained then
: in the same family until 2005 when they were
: offered at auction at Sotheby’s Geneva. We
: are thrilled to be able to reoffer these
: extraordinary pieces eleven years on.
:
: 18th Century Fashion and dress
:
: 18th century ladies’ fashion was enlivened
: by extreme and varied eccentricities: skirts
: expanded side ways to impossible widths and
: towering hairstyles grew to preposterous
: heights. There was, however, one constant
: feature: the deep décolleté common to both
: formal and informal garments, making the
: necklace one of the most important forms of
: jewelled adornment. Contemporary portraiture
: shows them consistently worn in a high
: position to emphasise the length and
: elegance of the wearer’s neck. The first
: distinct type of eighteen century necklace
: consisted of an openwork band of varying
: width set with a variety of gemstones. This
: basic form could be enhanced by the addition
: of a central decorative motif in the shape
: of a ribbon bow or an elaborate combination
: of a ribbon bow together with tassels, a
: pear-shaped drop or an elaborate girandole
: pendant. These necklaces were worn either
: directly on the skin or applied on velvet
: ribbons or other fabric to match the dress
: of the wearer. In most cases, these
: necklaces were fastened at the back by
: ribbons.
: The diamond band and the ribbon bow offered
: in this catalogue were probably combined to
: form a necklace towards the closing years of
: the 18th century when box-like clasps became
: fashionable. It was probably around this
: time that they became associated with the
: accompanying shagreen crimson velvet lined
: case. The vogue of wearing necklaces
: decorated with prominent ribbon bow motifs
: at the centre had been popular throughout
: Europe and indeed in Russia since the 1760s,
: as shown in numerous contemporary portraits.
: The diamond band consists of a line of
: twenty-five silver links, each set with a
: cushion-shaped diamond between courses of
: smaller stones. The links are not joined by
: connecting metal links but are threaded on
: silk. This practice, not uncommon for
: assembling jewelled necklace links of early
: date, is clearly detailed in several
: engravings published in 1663 by the French
: jeweller Gilles Legaré and remained
: fashionable until the end of the 18th
: century. It is also highly probable that the
: necklace was originally intended to be worn
: attached directly on to the garment or dress
: as was the custom during the 18th century,
: possibly suspending a series of garlands
: which may explain the purpose of the silver
: loops to the side of four links; the
: necklace may have been worn en
: esclavage."
:
:
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Message Thread:
- November Jewel Auctions - malluu October 27, 2016, 9:23 am
- Re: November Jewel Auctions - Les Joyaux du Trésor de Russie - malluu October 27, 2016, 9:28 am
- Re: November Jewel Auctions - Habsburg Sapphires - malluu October 27, 2016, 9:52 am
- Re: November Jewel Auctions - Russian/Turkish/Egyptian Diamond Parure - malluu October 27, 2016, 1:14 pm
- Re: November Jewel Auctions - Catherine the Great's Dog Collar Necklace - malluu October 27, 2016, 1:41 pm
- Re: November Jewel Auctions - Catherine the Great's Dog Collar Necklace - JohnAF October 27, 2016, 3:51 pm
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