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1913 catalogue on Prussian jewels - extraordinary pictures
Posted by Janet on March 21, 2020, 5:54 am
I found this on Dinastas and wanted to share as I am in awe at the pictures of the Prussian Royal house's jewellery collection which was professionally photographed in 1913.
Dear Janet, thank you so much for posting this link. It seems to be the main source for the most I´ve read about the Prussian Royal Jewellery. It gives an interesting insight into the handling of a royal jewellery collection since 18th century. Also the pictures are very helpful for I have seen the Diamond Diadem when worn by Empress Viktoria Auguste but not as a single piece. Perhaps the stones might have been of good quality but it´s ugly. I knew the foto of the Pearl Tiara but wasn´t certain it was a prussian piece indeed because I´ve never seen it when worn. The Emerald Tiara seems not unknown to me, but didn´t knew it was prussian. Very unique the cameo comb of Queen and Empress Augusta.
I found this on Dinastas and wanted to share as I am in awe at the pictures of the Prussian Royal house's jewellery collection which was professionally photographed in 1913.
Imagine if we could find similar documents on other royal houses! We would all be in heaven!
I liked the diamond necklace featuring the beau sancy very much.
What is clear is that the Prussian Queens/German Empresses could glitter with the best of them and had plenty at their disposal!
I don't read German but there seems to me a lot of reference to Queen Elisabeth Ludovika within the text, so I presume she was either the owner of many of the jewels or was responsible for the setting of the jewels, which are what I would call very traditional and designed to make a grand impression, as opposed to wowing for their beauty and style.
Such a shame this grand collection has been dispersed.
Wikipedia says that Queen Elisabeth left her jewels to her grand niece, Vicky the future Empress Frederick. I presume this refers to her personal jewels as I got the impression that the jewels referred to in this particular document are the Crown Jewels, to pass from monarch to monarch.
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Dear Janet, thank you so much for posting this link. It seems to be the main source for the most I´ve read about the Prussian Royal Jewellery. It gives an interesting insight into the handling of a royal jewellery collection since 18th century. Also the pictures are very helpful for I have seen the Diamond Diadem when worn by Empress Viktoria Auguste but not as a single piece. Perhaps the stones might have been of good quality but it´s ugly. I knew the foto of the Pearl Tiara but wasn´t certain it was a prussian piece indeed because I´ve never seen it when worn. The Emerald Tiara seems not unknown to me, but didn´t knew it was prussian. Very unique the cameo comb of Queen and Empress Augusta.
I found this on Dinastas and wanted to share as I am in awe at the pictures of the Prussian Royal house's jewellery collection which was professionally photographed in 1913.
Posted by Juscha on March 22, 2020, 5:16 am, in reply to "I am glad you liked"
Yes, that would be great. Regarding the many reigning houses in Germany it´s a nice thought that in their family archives still existing some other documentations of the offical and personal treasures might have survived. But I don´t know of any publications.
The big riviere with the Beau Sancy remains me of the necklace of the Queen of Saxony in Dresden which recently has partly been stolen.
I just flew over the text. It looks like the crownjewels was subject to major changes. If required, King Friedrich I, Friedrich Wilhelm I and Friedrich II sold parts of the diamonds in Amsterdam. On other occasions it is documented that the king broke off parts of crowns or jewellery for his own use. Parts of the treasure were given to the respective queen for use, including the diamonds, which otherwise adorned the crowns which rarely were used. If the queen left the area around Berlin or Potsdam, the pieces had to be returned to storage. When the queen died, they also went back.
King Friedrich Wilhelm III also tried to sell the jewels around 1809, in this case all but the pearls. Queen Luise didn't want to lose them. But because of the enormous loss in value, it didn't make sense to sell them, so the treasure was preserved.
At that time the treasure had been grown. While the queens gave parts of their personal jewellery as inheritance to their children, other parts went to the crown treasure. While Queen Luise had many children including three daughters, a lot of her many personal jewelleries went to them (some of her pearls are in Denmark). Queen Elisabeth didn´t have any children, so she gave many of her personal jewellery to the "tresor" with the order that Princess Victoria shall have the use of it as long she would be crownprincess, queen or empress. So, the sapphires and the ruby parures went to the "tresor". Queen/Empress Augusta also gave important parts of her jewels as the emeralds to the treasure.
While Empress Friedrich was dead twelve years when the documentation was published, nothing is said about her last will. As far as I know there were some trouble about her heritage.
Thank you for your comments, they are really interesting. The jewel collections of the various German royal and noble houses are to me at least the most interesting, largely because they are still so unknown and so impressive - the Wurrtemberg family for example appear to have a collection that compares favourably with the Danes, Swedes, Dutch etc and exceeds that of the Belgians and Spaniards.
Its always sad when there is an auction of jewels like the Mecklenburg tiara sale last year but I reckon at least we got to see it properly!
When you refer to some of Queen Luise's pearls being in Denmark, are you able to be more clear as to which piece you are referring to and how they got their? I presume via Lovise of Sweden, who was a descendant of Queen Luise?
I have often wondered about Empress Augusta's jewels, as the daughter of a Russian Grand Duchess I wonder if the emeralds came through her mother's Russian dowry/inheritance.
When you say trouble about the Empress Frederick's heritage, do you mean a dispute between her children? I have read that Princess Margaret inherited the grand castle in Hesse, so maybe the other children were jealous? I'd be fascinated to know.
About the pearl in Denmark my guess is that they are in the diamond and pearl tiaria so often worn by Queen Margrethe. This tiara was a wedding gift from King Friedrich Wilhelm III. to his daughter when she married Prince Frederick of the netherlands in 1825. After her death in Deember 1870 the tiara was inherited by her daughter Louisa/Lovisa married to king Carl XV. of Sweeden but she passed aqway three months after her mother and the tiara then went to her daughter Lovisa married to the future King Frederik VIII. of Denmark. Another possibilty about the pearl is the diamond and pearl tiara which Queen Margrethe II. often wears with the same tiara as it also had belong to pricness Louise of the Netherlands and went the same roue as the tiara.
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Thank you for your comments, they are really interesting. The jewel collections of the various German royal and noble houses are to me at least the most interesting, largely because they are still so unknown and so impressive - the Wurrtemberg family for example appear to have a collection that compares favourably with the Danes, Swedes, Dutch etc and exceeds that of the Belgians and Spaniards.
Its always sad when there is an auction of jewels like the Mecklenburg tiara sale last year but I reckon at least we got to see it properly!
When you refer to some of Queen Luise's pearls being in Denmark, are you able to be more clear as to which piece you are referring to and how they got their? I presume via Lovise of Sweden, who was a descendant of Queen Luise?
I have often wondered about Empress Augusta's jewels, as the daughter of a Russian Grand Duchess I wonder if the emeralds came through her mother's Russian dowry/inheritance.
When you say trouble about the Empress Frederick's heritage, do you mean a dispute between her children? I have read that Princess Margaret inherited the grand castle in Hesse, so maybe the other children were jealous? I'd be fascinated to know.
Indeed Queen Margarethe II. wears the tiara once given as a wedding gift to Princess Luise of Prussia, later Queen of the Netherlands. The one of her sister-in-law Princess Marianne of the Netherlands went to her daughter Alexandrine of Prussia and after than to Alexandrine´s daughter Charlotte of Mecklenburg married to Henry XVIII. of Reuss Köstritz.
There is a portrait of Alexandrine of Prussia wearing the tiara.
I looked her up on Wikipedia and An Online Gotha and she appears to have a lot of descendants, many of whom have married very well to fellow royals/nobles...maybe it still exists! Wishful thinking maybe.
Indeed Queen Margarethe II. wears the tiara once given as a wedding gift to Princess Luise of Prussia, later Queen of the Netherlands. The one of her sister-in-law Princess Marianne of the Netherlands went to her daughter Alexandrine of Prussia and after than to Alexandrine´s daughter Charlotte of Mecklenburg married to Henry XVIII. of Reuss Köstritz. www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/moduleContextFunctionBar.navigator.next&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SfieldValue&sp=0&sp=1&sp=3&sp=SdetailView&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F&sp=1 The whereabouts of the second one is unknown.
No reason for apologies. That why we´re here, aren´t we? I´m sorry not to be able to give more answers.
Yes, there must have been a lot of jewels but in the end we dont´t know as much as I would expect. For example I never have seen the pearl diadem, the sapphire tiara, the emerald tiara when worn by one of the queens. Was the handling of large jewelry, at least in public in Germany, different from e.g. in Russia or England? Maybe. We could research that together here. In any case, the 'tradition' breaks before the First World War. For Russia and France there are at least extensive lists and photo series because of the auctions, which is why we know more about them. So, a lot of work to do for the german territories…
The so called pearl poire tiara comes from Princess Luise of Prussia via Louise of the Netherlands and Louise of Sweden.
About Queen Augusta: Her mother brought a lot of jewelry from Russia, including emeralds, but no list is published and I have never seen pictures of her with colored stones. However, in "The Insignia and Jewels of the Prussian Crown" the emeralds are called of her mother.
About the heritage of Empress Frederik: The connection to her son never was good. There seems to be problems with Princess Charlotte and Prince Henry while Victoria, Sophie and Margarete stood with her mother. The old Empress Augusta and the court critised her. The new Empress Auguste Victoria adored Wilhelm and was in everything the complete contrary to Victoria. Well, when she had sufficient funds through an inheritance, she built her own castle in the Taunus, where she was visited by her younger daughters and their families. In later years, connections to Wilhelm and the others improved somewhat. In addition to the pieces of jewelry given to her by Queen Elisabeth, the pearls that her husband had given her for the wedding apparently went to the crown treasure. Margarete received Kronberg Castle and the art treasures. They are still owned by the House of Hesse to this day. The whereabouts of the remaining jewelry remains to be clarified.
Crown Princess Cecile wore the sapphires in Stockholm in the 1930s at the wedding of her Danish nephew Fredrick...the future King to Ingrid of Sweden Wilhelm II circa 1920 sold some of the pearls to Cartier to buy his dutch estate which was his home in exile,
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No reason for apologies. That why we´re here, aren´t we? I´m sorry not to be able to give more answers.
Yes, there must have been a lot of jewels but in the end we dont´t know as much as I would expect. For example I never have seen the pearl diadem, the sapphire tiara, the emerald tiara when worn by one of the queens. Was the handling of large jewelry, at least in public in Germany, different from e.g. in Russia or England? Maybe. We could research that together here. In any case, the 'tradition' breaks before the First World War. For Russia and France there are at least extensive lists and photo series because of the auctions, which is why we know more about them. So, a lot of work to do for the german territories…
The so called pearl poire tiara comes from Princess Luise of Prussia via Louise of the Netherlands and Louise of Sweden.
About Queen Augusta: Her mother brought a lot of jewelry from Russia, including emeralds, but no list is published and I have never seen pictures of her with colored stones. However, in "The Insignia and Jewels of the Prussian Crown" the emeralds are called of her mother.
About the heritage of Empress Frederik: The connection to her son never was good. There seems to be problems with Princess Charlotte and Prince Henry while Victoria, Sophie and Margarete stood with her mother. The old Empress Augusta and the court critised her. The new Empress Auguste Victoria adored Wilhelm and was in everything the complete contrary to Victoria. Well, when she had sufficient funds through an inheritance, she built her own castle in the Taunus, where she was visited by her younger daughters and their families. In later years, connections to Wilhelm and the others improved somewhat. In addition to the pieces of jewelry given to her by Queen Elisabeth, the pearls that her husband had given her for the wedding apparently went to the crown treasure. Margarete received Kronberg Castle and the art treasures. They are still owned by the House of Hesse to this day. The whereabouts of the remaining jewelry remains to be clarified.
happened gradually and discretely, whereas the Russian ones were often in large very heavily promoted auctions.
Thank you for your comments, really interesting as always.
Previous Message
No reason for apologies. That why we´re here, aren´t we? I´m sorry not to be able to give more answers.
Yes, there must have been a lot of jewels but in the end we dont´t know as much as I would expect. For example I never have seen the pearl diadem, the sapphire tiara, the emerald tiara when worn by one of the queens. Was the handling of large jewelry, at least in public in Germany, different from e.g. in Russia or England? Maybe. We could research that together here. In any case, the 'tradition' breaks before the First World War. For Russia and France there are at least extensive lists and photo series because of the auctions, which is why we know more about them. So, a lot of work to do for the german territories…
The so called pearl poire tiara comes from Princess Luise of Prussia via Louise of the Netherlands and Louise of Sweden.
About Queen Augusta: Her mother brought a lot of jewelry from Russia, including emeralds, but no list is published and I have never seen pictures of her with colored stones. However, in "The Insignia and Jewels of the Prussian Crown" the emeralds are called of her mother.
About the heritage of Empress Frederik: The connection to her son never was good. There seems to be problems with Princess Charlotte and Prince Henry while Victoria, Sophie and Margarete stood with her mother. The old Empress Augusta and the court critised her. The new Empress Auguste Victoria adored Wilhelm and was in everything the complete contrary to Victoria. Well, when she had sufficient funds through an inheritance, she built her own castle in the Taunus, where she was visited by her younger daughters and their families. In later years, connections to Wilhelm and the others improved somewhat. In addition to the pieces of jewelry given to her by Queen Elisabeth, the pearls that her husband had given her for the wedding apparently went to the crown treasure. Margarete received Kronberg Castle and the art treasures. They are still owned by the House of Hesse to this day. The whereabouts of the remaining jewelry remains to be clarified.
on March 21, 2020, 5:54 am
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I´m sorry not to be able to give more answers.