Regards,
Dave.
One of the most prominent aristocratic families in Italian history, the Doria Pamphilj have amassed an extraordinary art collection, housed in their Roman Palace, where Jonathan Pogson Doria Pamphilj and Gesine Pogson Doria Pamphilj still live with their respective families.
Jonathan (born 1963), and Gesine (born 1964) are the adopted children of the last descendant of the family, Princess Orietta Doria Pamphilj Landi. Together they inherited the vast fortune of the family, which is now formally extinct.
The ownership of these treasures was put into question when Gesine contested the right of her brother’s children (born by surrogacy) to inherit the Doria Pamphilj fortune.
In 2016, the family sold three (of four) important jewels from the Doria Pamphilj collection at Sotheby’s.
It appears that these jewels are only a small part of a historic jewellery collection which comprised at least a Ruby, a Sapphire, and an Emerald parure, only parts of which have been sold.
Gesine, who is married to an Art Historian, Massimiliano Floridi, is a devout Catholic, and hosts a yearly charity gala at the Doria Pamphilj Palace in Rome to mark the end of the Carnival, to the benefit of the Santa Francesca Romana Foundation. Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor (Nicholas is the son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent), often host the ball jointly with Mr and Mrs Floridi.
The costume ball is the occasion for Mrs Floridi to wear the truly magnificent Doria Pamphilj jewels.
RUBIES
This beautiful pair of earrings, made circa 1840, is set with a 12.33 carats ruby of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating, and a 9.46 carats pink sapphire of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating. (Sold at Sotheby’s Geneva, Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, 17 November 2016, as lot 324, for 672,500 CHF)
Link: http://www.sothebys.com/fr/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/magnificent-jewels-and-noble-jewels-ge1605/lot.324.html
According to Sotheby’s, the earrings were made for Mary Althea Beatrix Talbot, Princess Doria Pamphilj (1815-1858). The daughter of John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, a Catholic peer, she was designated by Queen Victoria as one of her train-bearers at her Coronation in 1838. On that occasion she is reported to have met Filippo Andrea V Doria Pamphilj Landi, Prince of Melfi (1813-1876), whom she married in 1839.
Most of the Doria Pamphilj jewels sold in 2016 had the same provenance, so the coordinating parures may well have been made for Princess Mary Althea as well. All of the jewels are made in a naturalistic style, following the 19th century taste for floral jewels.
Her sister Gwendoline (1817-1840) had married Prince Marcantonio Borghese in 1835.
The sisters were famous hostesses in their day, and it is no surprised that they owned impressive jewels.
This unusual sapphire brooch, of floral design, belonged to Gwendoline Borghese. According to the auction note, it was made from a tiara that had belonged to Pauline Bonaparte, Princess Borghese (Napoleon’s sister).
(Sold by Marc-Arthur Kohn, Paris, Collection Ruffini-Borghese – Collection D’un Grand Amateur, 13 April 2012)
Gesine Pogson Doria Pamphilj, Mrs Floridi, wore an important “Ruby” parure (or of other red stones) at the 2017 Ball.
This parure, which looks complete, comprises a huge tiara, of floral design with a line of flower-heads set en-tremblant on top, a necklace with pendants and an assorted pair of earrings.
The following photos were taken at the 2017 Beneficence Ball of the Doria Pamphilj–Santa Francesca Romana Foundation. All rights reserved to the Doria Pamphilj Foundation.
You can see the jewels in motion on this video
EMERALDS
The Doria Pamphilj Emerald parure was probably the grandest one in the family collection of jewels.
A huge brooch, dated circa 1840, and set with a Colombian emerald weighing around 135 carats (with a moderate amount of oil in fissures), was offered for sale at Sotheby’s in 2016, where it remained unsold.
The elegant brooch, also of floral design, was listed as having been made for Princess Mary Althea.
(Offered for sale at Sotheby’s Geneva, Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, 17 May 2016, as lot 400, UNSOLD)
Link: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/magnificent-jewels-and-noble-jewels-ge1602/lot.400.html
Another element of the parure, the magnificent emerald and diamond necklace, made circa 1880, was sold just a few months later.
Set with Colombian emeralds weighing 13.24, 14.04, 14.21, 15.26 and 16.51 carats (with a minor amount of oil), it was made this time on the orders of Princess Mary Althea’s husband, Prince Filippo Andrea, for his daughter-in-law Lady Emily Augusta Pelham Clinton (1863-1919), who married Alfonso Doria Pamphilj.
Emily Augusta was the daughter of another British peer, Henry Pelham Clinton, 6th Duke of Newcastle-Under-Lyne. Her mother was Henrietta Adela Hope, the only daughter of Henry Thomas Hope, the infamous owner of the blue diamond from the French Crown Jewels, that now bears his name.
(Sold at Sotheby’s Geneva, Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, 17 November 2016, as lot 325, for 1,872,500 CHF)
Link: http://www.sothebys.com/fr/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/magnificent-jewels-and-noble-jewels-ge1605/lot.325.html
The striking design of the necklace, aptly described as “late Victorian”, is however interrupted at the back by the addition of a diamond chain. I believe that the back section is still with the heirs to the Doria Pamphilj collection as Gesine Pogson Doria Pamphilj, Mrs Floridi, wore a similar element as a pendant to her diamond rivičre at the 2019 Ball.
This pendant is attached to a small “bar” that matches the garland-like necklace chain.
In addition to the aforementioned pendant, Gesine Pogson Doria Pamphilj, Mrs Floridi, wore an impressive emerald and diamond tiara at the 2019 ball, with a pair of emerald earrings.
The following photos were taken at the 2019 Beneficence Ball of the Doria Pamphilj–Santa Francesca Romana Foundation. All rights reserved to the Doria Pamphilj Foundation.
You can see the jewels in motion on this video
SAPPHIRES
The Sapphire and Diamond Parure is another beautiful suite of 19th century jewels. It is composed of a very large necklace with seven pendants, a pair of earrings, and a tiara that is visibly assembled from separate elements: two sprays of flowers, arranged vertically or horizontally, and a large brooch that forms the centrepiece.
To the best of my knowledge, no sapphire jewels have been publicly sold by the heirs of the Doria Pamphilj family.
Gesine Pogson Doria Pamphilj, Mrs Floridi pictured with her husband (undated photograph)
The following photos were taken at the 2018 Beneficence Ball of the Doria Pamphilj–Santa Francesca Romana Foundation. All rights reserved to the Doria Pamphilj Foundation.
Here with Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor
You can see the jewels in motion on this video
OTHER JEWELS
In addition to these extraordinary parures, the Doria Pamphilj still own several jewels that don’t form part of a parure.
Gesine Pogson Doria Pamphilj, Mrs Floridi, has worn a diamond rivičre (see above) with the remaining emerald jewels of the family.
She has also worn this rivičre (or a similar one) as a shorter necklace with three pendants for the 2016 Ball.
The following photos were taken at the 2016 Beneficence Ball of the Doria Pamphilj–Santa Francesca Romana Foundation. All rights reserved to the Doria Pamphilj Foundation.
You can see the jewels in motion on this video
Though the central pendant worn here looks very much like the light-pink diamond pendant sold at Sotheby’s on 17 May 2016, it most probably wasn’t, as the Ball took place that year on May 27.
This pendant, dated circa 1840, was described by Sotheby’s as having been “designed as a drop to an earlier rivičre necklace”, possibly the rivičre worn today by Mrs Floridi.
The 22.48 carats pear-shaped diamond, of a subtle pink colour, could have been mined in Golconda, India, where most of the world’s famous diamonds were sourced until the end of the 19th century.
(Sold at Sotheby’s Geneva, Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, 17 May 2016, as lot 401, for 1,690,000 CHF)
Link: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/magnificent-jewels-and-noble-jewels-ge1602/lot.401.html
Made for Princess Mary Althea, it is now attributed to Castellani (a famous dynasty of jewellers in Rome) by Symbolic & Chase, a gallery of Old Bond Street, London, which now has the pendant for sale three years after it was sold at auction.
Link : http://symbolicchase.com/Collection/ByReference/13J0033/CASTELLANI--A-19th-Century-pear-shaped-diamond-pendant#
The last jewel that I was able to identify is a rather common floral brooch, which was worn by Gesine Pogson Doria Pamphilj, Mrs Floridi, at the 2016 Ball, in her hair, quite like the Swedish Royal ladies often do (see above video):
It is highly unusual to have such an easy access to the treasures of an Italian noble family. These Roman aristocrats in particular are often very private about their possessions, and I hope that you appreciate the story that these gems can tell, especially when they are worn in their “natural habitat”!
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