Rare and Historically Important Natural Pearl and Diamond Jewel and a Brooch 珍罕且重要歷史性 天然珍珠 配 鑽石 珠寶 及 胸針

According to family tradition the pearls belonged to Kunigunde of Saxony, Marchesa di Montoro (1774-1820)

Thence by descent

In 1951, the jewel was worn by the wife of a descendant of Kunigunde of Saxony, herself born a Princess Odescalchi, at a ball held in honour of Princess Elizabeth, who would become Queen Elizabeth II the following year. In 1980, during another state visit of Elizabeth II the jewel was worn again. On both occasions the Queen expressed words of admiration for the jewel.

Henri Vever, La Bijouterie Française au XIXe Siècle – Tome I Consulat, Empire, Restauration, Louis-Philippe 1800-1850, Paris, 1906, pp. 193, 213, 217 and 218 for illustrations of this type of hair ornament dated between 1845 and 1850.

Irmgard von Hauser Köchert, Köchert - Imperial Jewellers in Vienna, Firenze, 1990, pp. 142, 143 and 154, for design drawings for hair ornaments of this type.

Henri Loyrette (ed.), Chaumet - Joaillier Parisien Depuis 1780, Paris, 2017, p. 226-227 for a pair of hair ornaments ‘ à la Macini’ attributed to Fossin circa 1840, featuring highly similar vines; p. 148 for designs for jewels set with similar vine motifs circa 1850.

Vincent Meylan, Mellerio dits Meller - Joaillier des Reines, Paris, 2013, p. 284 plate VII for the design of a hair ornament of this type dated circa 1840.

This rare and historically important jewel was created around 1840 as a face-framing hair ornament adapted to the fashionable hairstyles of the romantic period. It stands as perhaps the last known surviving example of this extravagant, but short-lived style of bejewelled hair ornament. Thanks to later alterations and the use of fittings, it is transformable for wear as a necklace, a devant-de-corsage and as a set of hairpins. According to family tradition, the important collection of natural pearls suspended from the jewel and its accompanying brooch belonged to Kunigunde of Saxony, Marchesa di Montoro (1774-1820). Because of their shared history, the natural pearl and diamond jewel and brooch are purposefully presented as one historical ensemble, the way they have been preserved together for almost two centuries.

Kunigunde of Saxony

Kunigunde of Saxony (1774-1820) was the daughter of Prince Franz Xaver of Saxony (1730-1806). He in turn was the second son of Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (1896-1763), who simultaneously held the elective Polish crown as King Augustus III, and Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria (1699-1757).

Franz Xaver’s grandfather Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) had greatly expanded the influence of the ancient Saxon Wettin dynasty by becoming King of Poland. He was well aware that representation was crucial at the baroque courts of the early 18th century and thus set out to make his court at Dresden one of the most magnificent in Europe, on a par with Versailles. Augustus the Strong and his son Frederick Augustus II assembled one of the most significant art collections of their day, including Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, Vermeer’s The Procuress and Jean-Étienne Liotard’s The Chocolate Girl. Today, Dresden’s Grünes Gewölbe museum, the former Royal Schatzkammer, still houses the Electors’ superlative collection of jewels, including the epaulette set with the world-famous Dresden Green Diamond.

Prince Franz Xaver grew up surrounded by the grandeur and culture of the Dresden court at its height. The prestige enjoyed by the Wettins at this point in time, brought them to the forefront of European Royal dynastic relations. Franz Xaver’s sisters Marie Josèphe (1731-1767), Maria Amalia (1724-1760) and Maria Anna (1728-1797) were married to the French Dauphin, the King of Naples and the Elector of Bavaria respectively, while his brother Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen (1738-1822) was the husband of Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, the favourite daughter of Empress Maria Theresa. This Golden Age for Saxony came to a crashing halt with the Seven Years War (1756-1763) that saw Prussia invade and occupy their neighbour, which subsequently never regained its place amongst Europe’s major players.

In 1763, Franz Xaver’s brother Frederick Christian passed away after a reign of only 73 days. Therefore, Franz Xaver fulfilled the role of regent during the minority of his nephew Elector Frederick Augustus III (1750-1827). In 1765, he secretely married the Italian Countess Maria Chiara Spinucci (1741–1792), a lady-in-waiting to his sister-in-law, the Electress. As she was not of Royal birth, the marriage was considered morganatic, meaning that the couple’s offspring was considered legitimate, but forfeited its place in the line of succession.

Following the conclusion of his regency in 1768, Franz Xaver moved his family to France where he lived discretely under the title Graf von der Lausitz. His daughter Kunigunde was born at Chaumot in France in 1774, during the reign of his ill-fated nephew King Louis XVI, the son of his sister the Dauphine Marie Josèphe. When the French Revolution broke out, the family relocated to Rome. There Kunigunde married the Marchese Montoro in 1795. She passed way in the eternal city in 1828. Her descendants created this magnificent jewel around 1840 using pearls that originally belonged to her. The brooch likewise was made incorporating pearls of the same provenance, though its ribbon design is more reminiscent of the styles of the 1860s that took inspiration from 18th century examples. The brooch stands out in particular for the quality of its central button-shaped pearl.

A Rare and Historically Important Jewel

This rare and historically important jewel is perhaps the last known surviving example of an elaborate type of hair ornament that saw a very brief flowering of popularity during the 1840s. The hairstyles of the late 1830s to the 1850s consisted of swoops of hair covering each ear, combined with a middle part and smooth crown, tied into an elaborate bun at the back. For formal events, floral decorations, either natural or silk flowers, were used as decoration. This period was the height of the romantic movement which fostered a deep-rooted fascination for nature, folkloric myths and the supernatural. In jewellery these themes were translated into highly articulated floral and foliate sprays that gave women the air of sylphs when gliding through a candle- or gas-lit ballroom.

The high point of this style was found in elaborate floral and foliate hair ornaments or coiffures, intended to be worn across the crown of the head and draping over the ears. They were supreme showcases for the jeweller’s virtuosity and created a mesmerizingly ethereal, yet dramatic effect when worn. Vever’s perennial standard work La Bijouterie Française du XIX siècle features several illustrations of variations on this type of jewel. The archives of Chaumet contain drawings of such hair ornament featuring highly similar vines. Furthermore, there exists a pair of hair ornaments attributed to Fossin et Fils, the precursor to Chaumet, incorporating highly similar vines. These ornaments carry the style name 'à la Mancini' as a poetic reference to Maria Mancini (1639-1715), King Louis XIV's first love who married the Roman Prince Mancini. The archives of the former Viennese court jeweller Köchert and of Mellerio dits Meller also contain a number of sketches for intricate examples of the style, which did not survive long past 1850.

Such extravagant jewels were usually remounted when they went out of fashion. This example, however, survived because it was rendered transformable with ingenious alterations and the use of numerous fittings. Together with its accompanying brooch, the jewel is a truly rare and magnificent artifact that recalls the beauty and splendour of a bygone era.

An Appreciation By Vincent Meylan

The first owner of the pearls set on that fabulous piece of jewellery was H.R.H Prince Xavier of Saxony and Poland (1730-1806) comte de Lusace as was his official French title. They are mentioned in the wedding contract of his fifth daughter, Cunégonde of Saxony (1774-1828), comtesse de Lusace who married in Rome, on the 7th of January 1796, Giovanni Patrizzi Nero (1775-1818) 4th marquess of Montoro. At the time, these pearls were mounted on a tiara which Cunégonde wore on her wedding day. All of Rome, even Pope Pio VI had been involved in the preparations of that marriage. To mark its importance, Cardinal Romualdo Braschi, who had the title of ‘Cardinale Nipote’ as he was the nephew of his holiness, had hosted an official lunch at Palazzo della Consulta which stands right in front of the Palazzo del Quirinale. Not only was the bride pretty, but she was also extraordinarily well connected. Her father’s sister, Princess Marie-Josèphe, would be the mother of three Kings of France: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X. Another sister, Princess Marie-Amélie was the mother of king Charles IV of Spain and King Ferdinand IV of Naples. A third sister, Princess Marie-Anne, had married the elector of Bavaria. Half of the kings of Europe were Cunégonde’s first cousins.

She herself was born in château de Chaumot in France on the 18th of March 1774. A few years before, her father, Prince Xavier of Saxony had decided to establish himself in France a country he knew well, having served in the French armies between 1758 and 1763. Until 1768, he had been Prince-Regent of Saxony in the name of his nephew, Elector Friedrich-August. His regency was very successful, but he made the mistake of falling in love with a beautiful young woman who was not a princess but a simple lady in waiting at the Saxon court. Her name was Chiara Spinucci (1741-1792). They married almost secretly in 1765. And of course the Saxon court did not approve. Prince Xavier and his wife had to leave Dresden. They came to France. Prince Xavier was granted a large pension of 150 000 livres by his nephew King Louis XVI and the title of comte and comtesse de Lusace for his wife and children. He bought the castle of Chaumot where Cunégonde was born and baptized and then the much larger castle of Pont sur Seine. In 1791, when the worst part of the French Revolution began, the whole family had to leave France. One year later, Chiara Spinucci died in Fermo, in Italy, the very city where she had been born. Prince Xavier, his son, Joseph, and four of his daughters went to Rome where Pope Pio VI welcomed them. All four daughters married in the very best families of the Roman aristocracy. After the last wedding in March 1796, Prince Xavier went back to Saxony. He died in his Palace of Zabeltitz, ten years later.

Three sons were born from the union of Cunegonde and the 4th Marquess of Montoro. Two of them, Francisco and Costantino joined the catholic church. Costantino even became a cardinal. The third son Filippo (1801-1858) became the fifth Marquess of Montoro and the pearls were inherited by him. At one point, the original tiara was transformed into this extraordinary piece of jewellery. But where and when? The style of the piece strongly suggests Paris around 1840. In France, the Monarchie de Juillet (between 1830 and 1848) was a time of great frivolity, fashion and romanticism. After the very stiff years of the first Empire of Napoléon and the Restauration of the Bourbon dynasty, the arrival to power of the Orléans branch of the Bourbon Family with King Louis Philippe was the beginning of a much more relaxed era. Newcomers were arriving on the art and cultural scene. In ballet, with ‘La Sylphide’ and Maria Taglioni dancing on pointe for the first time. Meyerbeer, Rossini, Berlioz, Donizetti and many others were creating some of their best operas. Victor Hugo was writing ‘Notre Dame de Paris’. Painters like Winterhalter and Ingres were beginning their careers. Very often the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, viewed as romantic times, were the inspirations of those artists. Fashion had to adapt. At court, the lady’s dresses and jewellery became much less formal. Big tiaras and the parure to match, lace veils and ostrich feathers were no longer required. In 1842, an official inventory of the jewels of the duchesse d’Orléans, widow to the heir of the throne, was made. The word tiara is not mentioned once. The Duchess had many sumptuous hair jewels, set with diamonds, rubies or pearls, and they are called ‘Ferronnières’ or ‘Sévignés’. The ‘Ferronnières’ was a gold link with a precious motive in the centre which was worn on the forehead. The name derives from a famous portrait by Leonard de Vinci, now in the Louvre. ‘Sévignés’ were long garlands of precious stones worn on the top of the head from one ear to the other. The inspiration is less obvious but it is of course related to the famous marquise de Sévigné. Both ends of the ‘Sévignés’ were sometimes called ‘Mancinis’ possibly in reference to a hair style favored by Marie Mancini, Louis XIV’s first love.

Bapst was still the official jeweller of the crown. He created most of the jewels ordered by King Louis-Philippe and Queen Marie-Amélie for the weddings of their numerous sons and daughters. Mellerio, the oldest French jeweller since 1613, and Fossin who had taken over Nitot’s business after he retired in 1815, were much less formal in their creations. In 1840, Jean Mellerio (1815-1886) was in charge of the family firm. Many drawings of ‘ornements de tête’ showing an architecture similar to this piece, can be found in the Mellerio archives in Paris. Flexibility was the key for that kind of Jewels. They could be worn as separate brooches, a necklace or a garland. Fossin of course, the ancestor of maison Chaumet, was also a great designer of Sévignés and Mancinis. He is even mentioned as such in one the books of a famous French writers of that time. In ‘Les Employés’ Honoré de Balzac writes: ‘Her hair was adorned with bunches of jet grapes of the finest workmanship, a thousand ecus set ordered from Fossin by an Englishwoman who left without taking it. The leaves were made of stamped iron blades, as light as real vine leaves, and the artist had not forgotten those graceful tendrils, designed to twist into the curls, as they cling to any branch.’  The design described by Balzac is very close to the one we have here. The only difference being that the Balzac parure was made in iron and this one is made of pearls and diamonds. Another element strongly suggests Fossin. It is a pair of diamond Mancini which now belong to the Chaumet historical collection. They have been exhibited many times and are presented on the website of Chaumet as a ‘Pair of Mancini ornaments attributed to Fossin et fils, circa 1840’. The style, the shape of the diamond leaves, the quality of workmanship are very similar.

In any case, this pearl and diamond garland is a museum piece. Those jewels were created by Fossin, Mellerio and Bapst and possibly others during a very short period of time around 1840. In 1851, the Empire was back in France with Napoléon III and another formal era began. It is very rare that such jewels have survived intact for nearly 200 years.