In November last year when I posted about the jewels of Lady Ward, formerly Jean Templeton Reid, daughter of the former US Ambassador to the UK, Whitelaw Reid, https://mb.boardhost.com/historyroyaljewels/thread/1574059293.html I included a photo of her daughter-in-law, Mrs John Ward, formerly Susan Corbett.

One of the images posted in 2019



At the time Janet recollected a tiara sold by Drouot, the French auction house in 2018 and posted this link. https://www.drouot.com/news/actuDetaillee/66302?isPress=

During that discussion, I thought that the tiara worn by Mrs John Ward and the one for sold by Drouot were 2 separate items but, as I didn't then have other images of Mrs John Ward wearing her tiara, I didn't pursue the matter. https://mb.boardhost.com/historyroyaljewels/msg/1574106869.html


As Mrs John Ward was photographed wearing the tiara in the early years of her marriage, I wondered if it could have been a gift at the time of her marriage.

But, the wedding of John Ward (son of Jean Templeton Reid, Lady Ward) and Susan Corbett in 1934 was a relatively low key affair, and I haven't seen any thing in the press about the wedding gifts, although the press did note that the bride wore a 3 strand pearl necklace, the gift of her mother-in-law.

The earliest photo I have found of Mrs John Ward wearing the tiara in question is 1937.

Mrs John Ward in 1937


Most of the images I have are of too poor a quality to see the details of the tiara but, nonetheless, they do provide some clues.

First, I think that the tiara worn by Mrs John Ward is not as long as the one sold by Drouot. See Drouot's images on page 39 http://fr.zone-secure.net/31103/922447/#page=39 Drouot states that the tiara is 38 cms long.

Side view of the tiara worn by Mrs John Ward.




The second major difference to my eye is the number of decorative elements.

According to Drouot the tiara has 5 four leaf rosette elements.

The tiara worn by Mrs John Ward appears to have only one such element, the one in the centre of the tiara.

Mrs John Ward's tiara as worn by her in 1953


A second view of the tiara as worn in 1956.


The third major difference to my eye is the composition of the central element.

In the tiara sold by Drouot there is a large diamond at the centre. (The additional 4 side elements also appear to have a largish diamond in the centre of each.)

Central element taken from Drouot's image See http://fr.zone-secure.net/31103/922447/#page=1


Central element of the tiara worn by Mrs John Ward.



I cannot see any diamond, large or small, at the centre of the element.

Comparison. The Ward tiara element is on the right.



To my eye the tiara worn by Mrs John Ward is different from the one sold by Drouot in 2018.