Tea at Trianon: The Pearls of Joséphine

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, October 1, 2021

The Pearls of Joséphine

From Royal Central:

Pearls have long since been a sought-after jewel. Royalty across the centuries have worn pearls, including Queen Elizabeth I in several different portraits (to mark her purity), Queen Marie-Antoinette, and even Qing Emperors.

Interestingly the Swedish Royal Family themselves put the necklace up for auction in 1995. It was put up for the second time in 2014 and now returns for a third in 2021.

Uni Kim, Specialist Jewellery Department at Sotheby’s, speaks to why this necklace is so unique: “It is so very special to be able to appreciate a historical pearl necklace together with the portrait of The Queen wearing the same jewel.”

While the necklace was initially auctioned by Sotheby’s in Geneva, it will now be sold in Hong Kong. Kim notes that “[c]ollectors in Asia are finding jewels of history more important than before, especially those with Imperial provenance. With this necklace, we are able to own a piece of history while also appreciating the rarity of these natural pearls.“
While the necklace originally belonged to Princess Augusta-Amelia of Bavaria, the daughter-in-law of Empress Joséphine Bonaparte, it was given to Augusta’s daughter, also Joséphine, who became the Queen of Sweden and Norway when Crown Prince Oscar inherited the throne after their marriage. She can be seen wearing the necklace in an 1820 portrait by artist Joseph Karl Steiler. (Read more.)