Spray Beauharnais - Empress Josephine
Lemoine was one
of the court jewellers of the Empress Joséphine. He made this
single corsage ornament in the form of a spray of laurel in 1805. This
spray is probably one of a pair.
In an inventory of the jewellery of the Empress it was stated that
she received between 1804 and 1807 a large ruby parure which was accompanied
by two agraffes, maybe this pair of sprays.
This parure was entirely set with diamonds and rubies and was consisting
of:
- a "bandeau-diadème"
- a comb,
- a necklace,
- a pair of earrings,
- a pair of bracelets,
- a girdle,
- a pair of shoe buckles,
- and a pair of agraffes.
Composed of twenty-two diamond leaves, this branch is set with a large
number of small diamonds and 10 magnificent Burma rubies are set in
gold and five of the larger diamonds are set in silver. Length: 6 7/6
inches.
The corsage ornament was shown together with a case for the jewel which
bears the Imperial cypher 'J' beneath the crown and the stamp of Lemoine,
in 2001 at Wartski, Ltd. in London. The ornament is now in a private
collection.
The brooch mounting could be a later addition, because a branch of this
measurement seems to be with its counterpart a fragment of a tiara to
which it was mounted.
Also must be considered the fact that the name "Spray Beauharnais"
is not directly linked with a provenance only to Joséphine.
Her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais was also in the possession of a
beautiful collection of jewels of the Empire period, likewise her son
Eugène bore the name Beauharnais and his family could have owned
a tiara like this.
The Empress was well known for her generosity to her children. It was
a matter of fact that the Empress ordered from the leading Parisian
jewellers the most sumptuous pieces of jewellery for her descendants.
Maybe one of her children received a tiara of this pure Style Napoléon.
Napoléon herself crowned himself with a laurel wreath. Maybe
one of the presented tiaras had also some ruby set laurel branches…….
an investment which has documented the imperial glamour of the Parisienne
court to the world……Source: Wartski
Many thanks to Laura!
Herzlichen Dank an Uwe Ripka für seine Unterstützung.
::::
roche de laurier
en rubis et diamonts de L`imperatrice Josephine "spray Beauharnais
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Empress Josephine’s
Sapphire Parure
Saphire Parure der Kaiserin
Josephine von Frankreich
Rubin
Parure der französischen Krone | The Imperial Ruby-Diamond-Parure
Modell
der Rubin Parure aus dem 19.Jhdt | Replica of the Imperial Ruby-Diamond-Parure
Die
Orginalversion der Smaragd Parure | The Imperial Emerald-Diamond-Parure
Die
Kaiserin mit der Smaragd-Garnitur | The Empress wearing the Emerald-Parure
Spätere
Versionen der Smaragd Tiara | Later Versions of the tiara
Das
Smaragdcollier und die Ohrringe| The Emerald-Diamond-Necklace and the
Earrings with Emeralds
Königliche
und Kaiserliche Juwelen | Royal and Imperial Jewels of France
