Archives for November 2014
Jewel History: Ex-Sultan’s Jewels on View in Paris (1911)
Abdul Hamid’s [1] remarkable collection of jewels, which will be sold at auction, beginning Monday, is on exhibition this afternoon in the Galerie Georges Petit for the benefit of a privileged few.
The sale, which has been entrusted by the Young Turk Government to the Paris jeweler Robert Lingeler, has attracted the attention of amateurs and dealers all over the world. The principal American, English, and German firms have sent special representatives to attend it.
Abdul Hamid II in Constantinople, ca. 1901
The experts who viewed the collection this afternoon unanimously agree that several million dollars will be realized, but none of them is ready to give an approximate estimate, as there is a general belief that amateurs and souvenir hunters are likely to compete with professionals and send prices up beyond the intrinsic value of the jewels. The sale coming at this moment, when Turkey is in the throes of war, it was thought that the Turkish government intended to employ the proceeds toward keeping up its army. It is, however, officially stated that the money will be invested in new battleships and the general improvement of the navy.
The exhibition room afforded a wonderful spectacle, ablaze with lights reflected by the wealth of diamonds and precious stones of all kinds arranged in show cases of plain pane glass. Each case was guarded by armed policemen, while other policemen in plain clothes and detectives circulated among the crowd. Although the ensemble of the 419 lots described in the catalogue might appear extravagant to modern taste owing to a touch of Oriental gaudiness, there are some fine pieces, such as only refined artists could conceive or execute.
One of the emeralds sold in the auction, today called the “Hooker Emerald” (source) [3] |
Most remarkable for workmanship and beauty is the collection of so-called zarfs, or coffee-cup stands, made of brilliants and rubies mounted on invisible settings [2]. There is, too, a Cardinal-shaped tiara finished with osprey plumes with small diamonds at the points, from which hang thirteen large pear-shaped diamonds of the first water. The collection of emeralds is most gorgeous [3]. Some are as large as walnuts and a few of them are of perfect color. There is a profusion of magnificent pearls, perfect in shape and some matchless in their wonderful hues.
Among the ex-Sultan’s personal valuables, such as studs, cigarette cases, canes, etc., many articles quite modern may be observed, and even some that, in America or Europe, would not be considered in bad taste. The sale may extend for days.
NOTES
1. Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) was the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire; he was deposed in 1909 in the wake of the Young Turk Revolution. He was an autocratic, absolute ruler; his reign saw modernization in his country, but he was also complicit in the persecution of some of his own people. Just before he was deposed, Abdul Hamid sent the crown jewels to Paris, hoping that he could sell them to raise funds for his life in exile. But the agent he trusted to oversee the sale apparently funneled the payments to the Young Turks, and Abdul Hamid never saw any of the proceeds from the auction.
2. One of these zarfs was resold by Bonhams in 2004; here’s more information, including an image.
3. One of these emeralds was the Hooker Emerald, purchased at the sale by Tiffany and Co. and on display today in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Read more at the Smithsonian’s website. The emerald’s current setting dates to the 1950s; Abdul Hamid reportedly wore the stone in a belt buckle.
Reader Mailbag: Royal Family Orders
Elizabeth II wears the family orders of George V and George VI
Time for another peek into my inbox, magpies! This time our question comes from one of our Canadian readers, Andrea:
I have noticed that both The Queen and Princess Margaret wear the orders
of their grandfather George V. Since they were only 10 and 6 when
their grandfather passed away, they were obviously given their orders as
children. Is this still common practice? Do you know when they first
appeared in public wearing their orders?
Detail of Richard Stone’s portrait of the Queen Mother (source) |
Great question, Andrea! Royal family orders — those miniature portraits of kings and queens worn on silk ribbons by royal ladies — are the personal gift of the sovereign. Not every country has them, but you’ll see them worn by ladies from a number of royal families, including the Danes, the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Brits. Because they’re a personal gift, the only way to know whether or not a royal lady has been given the family order is to see her wearing it in public.
Margaret wears the family orders of George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II (plus the Order of the Crown of India)
In Britain, the color of the family order ribbon changes with each monarch. According to the official website of the British monarchy, George V’s order ribbon was made of white silk, though often it actually appears to be an ice blue color. George VI’s order ribbon was rose pink, and Elizabeth II’s order ribbon is yellow (or, according to Buckingham Palace, “chartreuse.”) The hand-painted portrait of the monarch suspended from the family order ribbon is bordered by diamonds. Royal ladies can wear multiple family orders at once, and generally the most recent monarch’s order is placed nearest the shoulder, with subsequent monarchs’ orders worn in descending order.
The royal family at the 1937 coronation
The palace’s official website notes that Elizabeth and Margaret wore royal family orders at the 1937 coronation: “The Queen and her late sister, The Princess Margaret, were given their awards by their father, George VI, and both wore them as young girls at the coronation of their parents in 1937.” It does appear that the girls are wearing two orders at the coronation, although their coronation robes make it a little hard to see the orders clearly. (The princesses were not given the Order of the Crown of India, which is also worn on a silk ribbon, until 1947, so both of the ribbons here must be family orders.) A sovereign’s order is no longer awarded after his or her death, so the girls would have gotten the order of George V some time before his death in 1936.
The royal family on the balcony after the 1937 coronation
We have no way of knowing precisely for sure when the princesses were given George V’s family order, but it does appear that the coronation was the first time that the girls wore any of their orders in public. Their opportunities to wear them any earlier were few and far between, and notably, they did not wear orders at the biggest royal event before the 1937 coronation, George V’s Silver Jubilee service in 1935.
You can see above that family orders were worn during the silver jubilee — it’s sort of hard to make out, but both the Duchess of York and the Duchess of Kent appear to be wearing them. However, you can also see that neither of the princesses wore their grandfather’s order on that occasion. Perhaps the George V family order was a jubilee gift to the two princesses?
Alexandra wears the family orders of George VI and Elizabeth II
Look closely when you next see the Queen and Princess Alexandra wearing their family orders. The Queen is the only living person who has the order of George V, and she and Princess Alexandra are the only two living people with the family order of George VI. The other Windsor women who currently have a family order — the Duchess of Cornwall, the Princess Royal, the Countess of Wessex, the Duchess of Gloucester, and the Duchess of Kent — only wear the family order of Elizabeth II.
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