Regards,
Beth.
In April 1907 Christie's auctioned one of the most important jewel collections to come to the market in the first decade of the twentieth century, that of Mrs Ada Lewis Hill.
Her name appears to have been very well known to her contemporaries, yet she has largely disappeared from modern consciousness, perhaps, in part, because there are very few images of her or her jewels.
Below is a short biography. Unfortunately, it does not detail all of the works of philanthropy associated with her and her first husband, Sam Lewis.
All the newspapers reported the Christie's auction, the crush of people vying to view the jewels and the nonchalant, but intense, bidding between dealers to secure specific jewels.
Various jewels and details were highlighted by different media reports. I won't post all as that would be boring, but below is one list of the major jewels auctioned on the first of the two day auction.
In July 1904 Ada Lewis, then a widow, remarried a much younger man, Montagu Hill, and, as was the practice, was presented at Court. On this occasion she was ablaze with jewels and wore a magnificent tiara with 2 large diamonds. Thankfully, after her death, some photos of her in her court gown were published in the newspapers.
Various press reports at the time of the auction stated that this was the only time that she wore the tiara with the large diamonds.
Here is a closer view of the details of the tiara.
The two large diamonds were substantial. The rectangular diamond was 22 carats and the pear shaped one was 40 carats. Suspended from the arcs were 26 collet diamonds.
It may seem strange to us today, but the tiara fetched only the third highest price -- eleven thousand pounds --a string of pearls brought the highest price of 16,700 pounds. One of the interesting aspects of the report posted immediately above is the news that the jewels were set by Cartier.
Another aspect reported above (and in other reports) is the description of the butterfly tiara. While I cannot be completely sure, I suspect that it is the tiara which can be partially seen in the 1890/91 (?) painting of the then Ada Lewis.
The crescent shaped brooch at her waist was also among the jewels auctioned and went for 1,040 pounds.
Some of the prices obtained at the auction
Where did Ada Lewis Hill's jewels go? Probably the large tiara was broken up. The pearls, despite their value, appear to have disappeared from public description. I have often wondered where the large pear shaped pearls on one of the necklaces went.
Yet, even after the auction, dealers were still capitalising on the cachet of the collection, one of the items being an ostrich feather fan set with diamonds.
I wonder if it is the one seen in the photo of Ada Lewis Hill dressed for her Court presentation?
Ada Lewis Hill died in October 1906 and left her second husband a substantial legacy of three quarters of a million pounds as well as a yacht.
Yet, he did not mourn her for long and remarried in February 1907.
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