Spotlight on an impressive diamond ornament and its imperial legacy | Part III

The work at Gokhran culminated in the production of an illustrated catalogue: Les Joyaux du Trésor de Russie, or Russia’s Treasure of Diamonds and Precious Stones, published by Fersman, in four volumes, 1925-26 (showing above). Credit was given to the Fabergé jewellers for their assistance in the project and in an article titled The Romanov Heirlooms, Property of the Sovietic Republics, the context and new ownership of the jewels were set out, ‘…it became necessary to rebuild the shattered national economy and gather the People’s assets all over our country. Proeminent amongst these were the Romanov heirlooms: diamonds, precious stones, pearls and gold, Russia’s property since the downfall of the dynasty’. The article continued, ‘Nine huge strong-boxes crammed with gems (and strange to say, without a single inventory to them) were brought to light from the recesses of the Moscow ‘Armoury Hall’ and placed at once in the Safe-Keeping of the People’s Representatives’.

In January 1926 Associated Press reported that they had received, ‘the first complete and accurate description of the regal emblems from official sources…from Peter the Great to Nicholas II’, and furthermore, analysis of the acquisitions made by successive Tsars over the two centuries revealed that ‘contrary to general belief, the last Czar and Czarina were relatively moderate in their expenditures for crown jewels.’

In another article of February 1926 AP set out the thinking behind the creation of the catalogue: first, to repudiate rumours from abroad that the crown jewels had been sold or broken up; second, to make a contribution to the Science and History of Mineralogy; third, to leave for future generations of Russians an accurate and authentic description of the gems which the Government expects soon to convert into cash; and finally, fourth, to acquaint intending foreign purchasers with the details of the collection, which is described as the greatest aggregation of regal jewels in all history. The same article advised that gem dealers from seven countries were vying to buy jewels from the inventory.

Our diamond ornament is illustrated in its two parts in Fersman’s catalogue, the bow is item no. 128 on plate LXVI and the necklace item 195 on plate XCV, only the bow is dated, to the second half of the 18^th century, it is described as ‘very pretty and artistically composed’ and as ‘worthy to be exhibited in a museum’. The necklace is broken down according to its individual diamonds, and the entry is accompanied with the comment, ‘Rare and antique stones beautifully matched’.

By early 1927 several sales of parcels of Russian jewels to dealers working as partnerships had taken place, widespread interest in the fate of the Russian jewels continued and reporting on these activities appeared on a regular basis in the international press.

On February 26th 1927 the London Illustrated News announced a forthcoming auction ‘of great historic interest’ to be held at Christie’s London, on March 16, comprising ‘magnificent jewellery that formed part of the Russian State jewels’. The jewels were being offered by an English syndicate looking to close their business arrangement and most of the 124 lots had been created in the 18^th century during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1742-1761) and Catherine II (1762-1796).

The bow and necklace were offered as two separate lots (59 and 71 respectively), the necklace was illustrated, but the bow was not. Although two bows feature in the auction, lot 59 is described as having a cluster centre and of the two this would correspond to the design of our bow. As to the question of which Empress might have ordered and worn these items, the catalogue descriptions are extremely succinct and the second half of the 18^th century obviously saw the reigns of both Elizabeth and Catherine. However, although the court of Elizabeth was the most brilliant of all royal courts at the time, and surpassed even the wealth and luxury seen at Versailles, the era of Catherine II was characterised by an unsurpassed level of extravagance in dress and precious jewels – and, the Empress’s share of the Diamond Fund did after all amount to nearly half that of the total value.

In 1960, Lord Twining (1899-1967) published A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe, where in more than 700 pages he explored the regalia of Europe’s royal families, running from Austria to Yugoslavia. Twining had enjoyed an eventful career as a diplomat – he pioneered and ran a highly successful intercept station in Mauritius during the World War II and later served as Governor of both North Borneo and Tanganyika. From 1929 he was an Assistant District Commissioner in Uganda and there in 1937 he was in charge of organising the celebrations for the coronation of George VI. He had an ‘abiding interest in everything regal’ and in his exhaustive reference work he cross checked the Russian jewels offered at auction with Christie’s in 1927 with the 1922 inventory, and identified the London dealers SJ Phillips as the purchaser of both lots 59 and 71, for £300 and £2,700 respectively. The jewels were purchased from SJ Phillips in the 1960s and remained in private hands until their appearance in the Geneva auction in November 2005.    

A fascinating jewel, albeit in the spotlight for just a short time in its rich and evolving history.