Re: Duchess of Angoulême's ruby and emerald parures Archived Message
Posted by Arthur  on August 26, 2014, 7:51 am, in reply to "Re: Duchess of Angoulême's ruby and emerald parures"
I know that during the First Empire (Napoleon I's reign, 1804-1814), the parures made for Empresses Joséphine and Marie-Louise often included a small crown. Here is, for instance, a replica in garnet and white sapphires (on display in Chaumet's exhibition rooms, in Paris) of the ruby and diamond parure of Empress Marie-Louise, which includes a crown (the original parure was dismantled in 1816 to create the ruby and diamond parure of the Duchess of Angoulême):
 
Here is Empress Marie-Louise wearing a crown with her topaz and diamond parure :
It was probably considered that, in grand ceremonies, the Empress should display her imperial status even with her jewels...
Later, fashion probably evolved. As the Duchess of Angoulême, though de facto "First Lady", was not Queen, she could not wear crowns (especially crowns with closed arches, which is an symbol of sovereignity), whereas the coronets did not bear such a symbolical significance. Beyond the symbolical aspect, the coronets (which were smaller than the tiaras) were also probably designed to wear around a chignon, so there might have been a practical aspect too.
Why two necklaces? Well, why not?  A big one for the most important ceremonies, a smaller one for less formal events... A "parure" does not mean that all the elements of the parure must be worn together.
There are most jewels that we know from pictures (mainly the pictures taken in the 1880s prior to the auction of the French Crown Jewels), but that we have never seen on portraits of the royal or imperial ladies of the 19th century (one of the few exceptions being Empress Eugénie's pearl and diamond tiara, depicted on her famous portrait by Winterhalter - this tiara is now in the Louvre, after having belonged for decades to the Princes of Thurn-und-Taxis).
Empress Eugénie was never pictured with the Duchess of Angoulême's emerald and diamond tiara, but she was pictured with one of her personal emerald and diamond tiara, made by the jeweller Fontenay in the 1850s. I think that this tiara was sold by the Empress during her exile.
Quite funnily, this picture brings us back to the original topic of this thread (the artistic licence in the rendition of jewels), because this portrait has sometimes been copied but with the emeralds turned into sapphires...
--Previous Message--
: Thank you so much for all the information and
: the beautiful photos Arthur. You have given
: us a very special treat - a feast for the
: eyes and the mind.
: I have a few queries, but I think they
: should wait until I have reread the post and
: thought about some of the information.
: The emeralds are luscious. What a shame
: there are no photos of the Empress Eugenie
: wearing the parure. If her portraits do
: reflect her true skin tone, emeralds would
: have looked superb on her.
: I do not know a great deal about French
: royal jewels, so I would be most grateful if
: someone could explain why the parures so
: often have a diadem and a coronet. I can
: understand the rationale behind having two
: necklaces.
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