Year :
|
c.1900-13 |
Material :
|
Platinum,Gold,Green Beril,Diamond |
Collection :
|
ALBION ART Collection |
Provenance :
|
Boucheron |
|
<Description>
Gold, silver and diamond tiara, the base and top outlined by channel-set diamonds enclosing a continuous line of ribbons, the space between filled with seven emeralds with rectangular cut corners within open oval frames graduated in size towards the back. These are surmounted by groups of collet-set diamonds and supported below by leafy sprays linking the emeralds. The emeralds have been replaced. Boucheron, Paris 1900-1913.
Provenance: The Viscountess Harcourt, to her daughter.
Lady Ashburton (d. 1981), and thence by descent.
<Commentary>
Boucheron designed the tiara as a frame for the magnificent emeralds, given to the Viscountess Harcourt by her uncle, the American banker, Pierpont Morgan, and therefore the ribbon and leaf design is of the very highest quality. As wife of the statesman, Viscount Harcourt, she would have worn the tiara on many important political and social occasions, particularly the coronations of George V (1911) and George VI (1937), when, encircling her head like a crown it never failed to impress.
Diana Scarisbrick |
