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The Leuchtenberg Fabergé Tiara (Photo: MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images) |
Some of the diamonds in this small but mighty tiara were given by Tsar Alexander I of Russia to Empress Joséphine of France. The Alexander and Joséphine (who had by this time been divorced by Napoléon Bonaparte) were good friends, and he often visited her at her country estate, the Château de Malmaison. When he visited, Alexander brought presents, and these diamonds were among those gifts.
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Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images |
The tiara itself was made much later, around 1890. Joséphine’s diamonds had been inherited by her son Eugène, the Duke of Leuchtenberg, and the tiara was made by Fabergé for his descendants. The piece was created by August Holmström, the Finnish-born craftsman who was head jeweler for the firm. (He also made the lovely star sapphire brooch we discussed earlier this week. P.S.: the brooch sold for $75,000. If you bought it: congratulations!)
The Leuchtenbergs must have been thrilled with their new sparkler -- there's a lot of glitter packed into a small, easy-to-wear frame. After World War I, however, the Leuchtenbergs sold the tiara in Switzerland to the Belgian royal family. It was eventually inherited by Prince Charles Théodore, Count of Flanders. When he died unmarried and without children in 1983, he bequeathed the tiara to his sister, Marie José, the former queen of Italy.
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Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images |
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Photo: MIKE CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images |
Luckily for us, the McFerrins have decided to share their bounty with all of us. The Leuchtenberg tiara is on display with much of the rest of their collection at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The pieces appear in the "Fabergé: From a Snowflake to an Iceberg" exhibition. And this November, the museum will be hosting a special symposium, "The Wonder of Fabergé," with lectures and presentations focusing on the nearly 600 items in the collection. This tiara, a centerpiece of the museum's advertising for their Fabergé exhibit, will surely be a major focus.