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The pendant of Queen Alexandra’s Birmingham necklace was sold by Skinner in 2006. Description note: This piece is believed to be part of a larger necklace presented by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham to Queen Alexandra upon her visit to the city in 1909. See: https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2965B/lots/418
A colour book print of the necklace made by Arthur and Georgie Gaskin to Queen Alexandra was published in 1910:
What an excellent discovery Knightship. Congragulations also to Beth who first alerted us about this necklace. I loved looking at the modern photograph and it is a very attractive piece indeed.
Do we have any indication whatsoever about the route this necklace took out of royal hands??
What a stunning find Knightship!! This is such a significant find.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us! Both the colour photos give me such a different perspective on the jewel.
I was also intrigued to read that the coloured gemstones were foiled. I thought that practice had died out by the turn of the nineteenth century. Obviously not!! But, perhaps the apprentices who made the necklace wanted to show all various jewellery making techniques.
Somehow I doubt if Queen Alexandra would have worn the original necklace, and I suspect that the intention of the designers and Birmingham trade school which made it was to highlight the skills of the trainee jewellers -- so in short, like many gifts given to prominent royals, I suspect that this was to be a commemorative item.
Like OmerH I wonder how and when this necklace (or pendant) left the Queen's collection. One of the obvious routes is via Princess Victoria of Wales but, of course, her will is sealed, so we cannot test that evidence.
I was a bit surprized that the pendant was sold through Skinner auction house in Boston, USA, but I have no clue to the route of this necklace.
The pendant was sold in 2016, not 2006 as I wrote in my first post.
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What a stunning find Knightship!! This is such a significant find.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us! Both the colour photos give me such a different perspective on the jewel.
I was also intrigued to read that the coloured gemstones were foiled. I thought that practice had died out by the turn of the nineteenth century. Obviously not!! But, perhaps the apprentices who made the necklace wanted to show all various jewellery making techniques.
Somehow I doubt if Queen Alexandra would have worn the original necklace, and I suspect that the intention of the designers and Birmingham trade school which made it was to highlight the skills of the trainee jewellers -- so in short, like many gifts given to prominent royals, I suspect that this was to be a commemorative item.
Like OmerH I wonder how and when this necklace (or pendant) left the Queen's collection. One of the obvious routes is via Princess Victoria of Wales but, of course, her will is sealed, so we cannot test that evidence.
on March 1, 2021, 9:51 pm
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