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Grace Elvina Hinds 1st Marquess Curzon Kedleston
Posted by Dave on August 29, 2019, 8:11 pm
I find her necklace and tiara lovely. Are they still around?
This one is a bit tricky, because it's not clear if these jewels already belonged to Grace Elvina Duggan, nιe Hinds who was a wealthy woman after her first husband's death before she became Lord Curzon's second wife in 1917. The National Portrait Gallery dates the photo below, which Dave was referring to, 1924.
Lord Curzon's first wife was another American heiress, Mary Victoria Leiter, who accompanied her husband to India when he was appointed Viceroy in 1898.
On her way to India she made her will. Anne de Courcy quotes a relevant paragraph in "The Viceroy's Daughters":
and adds that "she wished the same for her diamond star tiara and her diamond brooch".
At that time the Curzons had two daughters, a third one was born in 1904, two years before Lady Curzon's untimely death.
Lady Corzon famoulsy wore an emroidered gown by the House of Worth for the Delhi Durbar in 1903 to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII. The peacock dress is now in the care of the National Trust.
Lord Curzon who was created Earl Curzon of Kedelston in 1911 and Marquess Curzon of Kedelston in 1921 seems to have ignored his first wife's wishes regarding her jewels. Their second daughter Cynthia received her mother's pearls when she married Oswald Mosley in 1920, but with this exception "none of the girls received any of these items. Nor [...] did their father leave them any of the rest of her splendid collection, much of which had come from their grandfather [...]. All of it had been given or was left to Grace." And when Alexandra, the youngest daughter married shortly after her father's death in 1925, she "bought herself the tiara deemed necessary by all married women of her social standing: although Mary Leiter had had three diamond tiaras, Curzon had left all these to Grace." (Anne de Courcy: The Viceroy's Daughters)
Obviously the tiara Grace Curzon is wearing in most of the photos accessible online is none of those once owned by her husband's first wife two of them can be seen in the photos of Mary Curzon above, the third one she had described herself as a "star tiara" in her will but I suspect the long necklace is a combination of the jewels Mary Curzon was wearing with her peacock dress for the Delhi Durbar in 1903: the cluster necklace and the jewels on her shoulders lining her dress. The photo of Grace Curzon shows quite clearly that the lower 13 clusters are set in a slightly different way and set closer to each other than the upper part of the sautoir the lower part would be the necklace as worn by Mary Curzon who possibly also possessed the pendant attached to Grace Curzon's sautoir, although I haven't found an image of her wearing it.
I'm not sure what kind of gemstones are set in the centre of these clusters. The peacock dress was often described as being embroidered with emeralds, but in fact it was beetlewing embroidery. I somehow imagine the necklace to be set with amethysts, but that's just that an imagination.
Grace Curzon had three children from her first marriage. When she died in 1958, her younger son had already predeceased her. The elder, Alfred Duggan, was said to have been impoverished when he died without issue in 1964. Her daughter, Grace Duggan, was the mother of Caroline Helen Rice, who married Robert Windsor-Clive, 3rd Earl of Plymouth in 1950, but the only tiara she seems to have worn is the one she was photographed with at the coronation in 1953 and while the overall shape is somewhat similar to the tiara of her grandmother, there's no hint of its rather distinctive features in this unfortunately quite blurry photo.
Lord Curzon's eldest daughter Mary died without issue in 1966. The other two, Cynthia (d.1933) and Alexandra (d.1995), each had three children, but I haven't found any photos of them or their spouses or descendants wearing significant jewels, although all three of Mary Curzon's daughters inherited considerable wealth from their mother's family. I somehow doubt that some of Grace Curzon's possessions would have been left to her husband's grandchildren in 1958.
Re: Grace Elvina Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston
What an expose` thanks mauriz. That peacock embroidery dress must have been very stiff and weighty but it is exceptional. I wonder if they had real emeralds instiu in it. Since Lord Curzon took the prerogative of owning his wife's property which I understand to be enshrined in English/ British law maybe the massive tiara that Grace is pictured in may have been the Boucheron tiara spoken of in the will of the first lady Curzon and it does come off as a Boucheron design. I just wish I could see it in color and wonder if it is still around because it looks beautiful even in the black and white picture. Mauriz I think you are absolutely right on the suitor necklace having been in the collection of the first lady Curzon but the elements of a the necklace being worn by Caroline Helen Rice seem to be possible to have also come from the long suitor necklace as well. I cant see clearly the outline or shape of the tiara Caroline Helen Rice is wearing but it could be of the ones seen in the photos, but I'm not sure.
Regards,
Dave.
Previous Message
This one is a bit tricky, because it's not clear if these jewels already belonged to Grace Elvina Duggan, nιe Hinds who was a wealthy woman after her first husband's death before she became Lord Curzon's second wife in 1917. The National Portrait Gallery dates the photo below, which Dave was referring to, 1924.
Lord Curzon's first wife was another American heiress, Mary Victoria Leiter, who accompanied her husband to India when he was appointed Viceroy in 1898.
On her way to India she made her will. Anne de Courcy quotes a relevant paragraph in "The Viceroy's Daughters":
and adds that "she wished the same for her diamond star tiara and her diamond brooch".
At that time the Curzons had two daughters, a third one was born in 1904, two years before Lady Curzon's untimely death.
Lady Corzon famoulsy wore an emroidered gown by the House of Worth for the Delhi Durbar in 1903 to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII. The peacock dress is now in the care of the National Trust.
Lord Curzon who was created Earl Curzon of Kedelston in 1911 and Marquess Curzon of Kedelston in 1921 seems to have ignored his first wife's wishes regarding her jewels. Their second daughter Cynthia received her mother's pearls when she married Oswald Mosley in 1920, but with this exception "none of the girls received any of these items. Nor [...] did their father leave them any of the rest of her splendid collection, much of which had come from their grandfather [...]. All of it had been given or was left to Grace." And when Alexandra, the youngest daughter married shortly after her father's death in 1925, she "bought herself the tiara deemed necessary by all married women of her social standing: although Mary Leiter had had three diamond tiaras, Curzon had left all these to Grace." (Anne de Courcy: The Viceroy's Daughters)
Obviously the tiara Grace Curzon is wearing in most of the photos accessible online is none of those once owned by her husband's first wife two of them can be seen in the photos of Mary Curzon above, the third one she had described herself as a "star tiara" in her will but I suspect the long necklace is a combination of the jewels Mary Curzon was wearing with her peacock dress for the Delhi Durbar in 1903: the cluster necklace and the jewels on her shoulders lining her dress. The photo of Grace Curzon shows quite clearly that the lower 13 clusters are set in a slightly different way and set closer to each other than the upper part of the sautoir the lower part would be the necklace as worn by Mary Curzon who possibly also possessed the pendant attached to Grace Curzon's sautoir, although I haven't found an image of her wearing it.
I'm not sure what kind of gemstones are set in the centre of these clusters. The peacock dress was often described as being embroidered with emeralds, but in fact it was beetlewing embroidery. I somehow imagine the necklace to be set with amethysts, but that's just that an imagination.
Grace Curzon had three children from her first marriage. When she died in 1958, her younger son had already predeceased her. The elder, Alfred Duggan, was said to have been impoverished when he died without issue in 1964. Her daughter, Grace Duggan, was the mother of Caroline Helen Rice, who married Robert Windsor-Clive, 3rd Earl of Plymouth in 1950, but the only tiara she seems to have worn is the one she was photographed with at the coronation in 1953 and while the overall shape is somewhat similar to the tiara of her grandmother, there's no hint of its rather distinctive features in this unfortunately quite blurry photo.
Lord Curzon's eldest daughter Mary died without issue in 1966. The other two, Cynthia (d.1933) and Alexandra (d.1995), each had three children, but I haven't found any photos of them or their spouses or descendants wearing significant jewels, although all three of Mary Curzon's daughters inherited considerable wealth from her mother's family. I somehow doubt that some of Grace Curzon's possessions would have been left to her husband's grandchildren in 1958.
Re: Grace Elvina Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston
The Boucheron tiara was the one with the fleur-de-lys motifs worn together with the peacock dress for the Delhi Durbar.
The dress is quite heavy (4,5 kg), but I don't think it's particularly stiff. Lady Curzon commissioned Indian craftsmen with the metal embroidery on silk chiffon, and the fabric was then sent to Worth in Paris. You probably know Charles Frederick Worth's work from portraits of Empress Eugenie of the French, whose official dressmaker he was, or Empress Elisabeth of Austria. By the time the peacock dress was commissioned he was already dead, but the House of Worth continued to be the preeminent haute couture salon until the late 1910s. And what was often mistaken as emeralds were in fact iridescent beetle wings.
From the V&A website:
The wings of jewel beetles (buprestidae) were traditionally used to embellish textiles in South America and South and Southeast Asia. Emerald-green beetle-wing decoration became a symbol of high status in India during the Mughal period (1526-1756). Western traders in India then introduced these textiles to Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British newspapers report on several women wearing dresses decorated with beetle wings at court during the late 1820s and early 1830s. By the 1860s beetle wings were being imported to Britain in volumes of 25,000 per consignment, to be applied to textiles in imitation of the Indian technique. The wings were cut, shaped and arranged in stylised floral patterns, often accented with metal thread. The wings would have glittered in candlelight, achieving a sought-after iridescent and jewel-like effect.
Re: Grace Elvina Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston
Grace Curzon was the author of memoirs and was very extravagant. Before her death ..indeed before ww2 she was in financial difficulties and had to drastically reduce her lifestyle so the gems may have been sold.
Previous Message
The Boucheron tiara was the one with the fleur-de-lys motifs worn together with the peacock dress for the Delhi Durbar.
The dress is quite heavy (4,5 kg), but I don't think it's particularly stiff. Lady Curzon commissioned Indian craftsmen with the metal embroidery on silk chiffon, and the fabric was then sent to Worth in Paris. You probably know Charles Frederick Worth's work from portraits of Empress Eugenie of the French, whose official dressmaker he was, or Empress Elisabeth of Austria. By the time the peacock dress was commissioned he was already dead, but the House of Worth continued to be the preeminent haute couture salon until the late 1910s. And what was often mistaken as emeralds were in fact iridescent beetle wings.
From the V&A website:
The wings of jewel beetles (buprestidae) were traditionally used to embellish textiles in South America and South and Southeast Asia. Emerald-green beetle-wing decoration became a symbol of high status in India during the Mughal period (1526-1756). Western traders in India then introduced these textiles to Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British newspapers report on several women wearing dresses decorated with beetle wings at court during the late 1820s and early 1830s. By the 1860s beetle wings were being imported to Britain in volumes of 25,000 per consignment, to be applied to textiles in imitation of the Indian technique. The wings were cut, shaped and arranged in stylised floral patterns, often accented with metal thread. The wings would have glittered in candlelight, achieving a sought-after iridescent and jewel-like effect.
Re: Grace Elvina Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston
That is interesting Ashdean, and may explain a lot. So often when financial difficulties arise, the jewels are the first things to go. Thank you for the insight.