Hydrangea Diamond Spray Brooch of Queen Hortense de Beauharnais
Diamant-Hortensienbrosche der Königin Hortense de Beauharnais
Imperial Jewellery of Empress Joséphine | Nitot Paris | Einsiedeln Abbey
Auf ihrer Flucht aus Frankreich verbrachte Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleons Stieftochter und Mutter des späteren Napoleon III., einige Tage im Kloster Einsiedeln in der Schweiz. Aus Dankbarkeit für die gewährte Gastfreundschaft schenkte sie dem Kloster eine außergewöhnliche Diamantbrosche in Form eines blühenden Hortensienzweiges.
Neuere Forschungen verbinden dieses Juwel mit einer wesentlich größeren Arbeit von Nitot & Fils, Paris: einer prachtvollen guirlande d’hortensia, die Kaiserin Joséphine ursprünglich als persönliches Geschenk für Prinzessin Catharina von Württemberg, die spätere Königin von Westphalen und Gemahlin Jérôme Bonapartes, 1806 zur Hochzeit,bestimmt hatte.
Nitot's offizielle Expertise beschreibt diese Hortensiengirlande als ein Meisterwerk floraler Diamantkunst. Sie bestand aus 426 nachgeschliffenen Brillanten, welche die Hortensienblüten bildeten, 3.593 nicht nachgeschliffenen Brillanten sowie 588 holländischen Rosen, welche die Blätter formten. Einschließlich Arbeitslohn und Etui wurde das Juwel mit 51.777 Francs 46 Centimes bewertet.
Die Experten konnten die kleineren Steine nicht vollständig zählen, ohne das Juwel zu zerlegen. Sie lobten jedoch ausdrücklich Entwurf und Ausführung und erklärten, dass diese Arbeit kaum günstiger hätte hergestellt werden können.
Nach der Fertigstellung, wurde die Hortensiengirlande laut den Akten „für einen anderen Zweck“ abgezweigt. Warscheinlich hat Kaiserin Josephine das Juwel erstmal für sich behalten und später ihrer Tochter Hortense vermacht.
Es bleibt daher möglich, dass die von Hortense de Beauharnais dem Kloster Einsiedeln geschenkte Hortensienbrosche einen erhaltenen Teil dieses verlorenen kaiserlichen Juwels darstellt. Besonders reizvoll ist dabei die persönliche Symbolik: Die Hortensie war eng mit dem Namen Hortense verbunden.
During her flight from France, Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleon’s stepdaughter and the mother of the future Napoleon III, spent several days at Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland. In gratitude for the hospitality she received there, she presented the monastery with a remarkable diamond brooch in the form of a flowering hydrangea branch.
This jewel has long been preserved among the treasures of Einsiedeln and was used as an ornament for the changing robes of the famous Black Madonna in the abbey church. For a long time, the full story behind the brooch was not known. Only later research into the monastery treasures made it possible to connect the jewel with the imperial Bonaparte family.
The brooch is of exceptional goldsmith’s work. It is formed as a spray of hydrangea flowers and leaves, entirely set with diamonds. The flowers and foliage are arranged on fine spiral stems, creating the impression of a light, naturalistic flowering branch.
Recent archival research suggests that the Einsiedeln brooch may be connected with a much larger jewel: the “guirlande d’hortensia”, a diamond hydrangea garland ordered by Empress Joséphine from Nitot & Fils in Paris. This sumptuous jewel was originally intended as a personal gift for Princess Catherine of Württemberg, the future Queen of Westphalia, on the occasion of her marriage to Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon’s youngest brother, in 1806.
The official expertise of the Nitot jewel describes the hydrangea garland in remarkable detail. It was composed of:
426 recut brilliant diamonds, forming the hydrangea flowers,
3,593 non-recut brilliant diamonds,
588 Dutch rose-cut diamonds, forming the leaves,
together with the workmanship and its case.
The total value of the garland was 51,777 francs and 46 centimes.
The experts noted that the smaller stones could not be counted precisely without dismantling the jewel, which would have destroyed part of the value of the workmanship. They praised the design and execution in the strongest terms and stated that the jewel could hardly have been produced for a lower price.
This makes the hydrangea garland one of the most important floral diamond jewels made by Nitot during the Napoleonic period. It was not simply a decorative ornament, but a highly sophisticated court jewel composed of different types of diamonds, with flowers and leaves rendered through varying cuts and settings.
The archival documents also show that the hydrangea garland was later diverted “for another use”. This leaves open the possibility that part of the original garland survived in another form. The brooch given by Queen Hortense to Einsiedeln Abbey, a hydrangea spray in gold, diamonds and rubies, may therefore preserve part of this lost imperial jewel.
The connection is especially suggestive. The hydrangea was closely associated with the name Hortense, and the jewel would have carried both floral and personal meaning within the Bonaparte circle.
The brooch later entered the devotional life of Einsiedeln Abbey. It was used to adorn the robes of the Black Madonna, the 117 cm high limewood figure of the Virgin Mary, slightly inclined to the left, crowned, holding a sceptre in her right hand and carrying the crowned Christ Child on her left arm. The Child holds a bird in one hand and gives a blessing with the other. The Virgin’s original dress is strawberry red, imitating damask, held beneath the breast by a belt and falling in radiating folds.
In the attic of Einsiedeln Abbey, the retired monument conservator Markus Bamert rediscovered numerous treasures, including precious sacred objects and exquisite works of goldsmithing donated by members of Europe’s royal houses. Many of these were votive gifts, offered in gratitude after danger, illness, exile or recovery.
Among them, the hydrangea brooch of Hortense de Beauharnais stands out as a rare survival from the world of Napoleonic imperial jewellery: a jewel born from the splendour of Joséphine’s court, possibly once part of a magnificent Nitot diamond garland intended for Queen Catherine of Westphalia, and later transformed into a devotional gift at one of Switzerland’s most important pilgrimage sites.
Source: KLoster Einsiedeln;Chaumet-Nitot Archive;Archive Ursula Butschal;
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roche de laurier
en rubis et diamonts de L`imperatrice Josephine "spray Beauharnais
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