Formerly the property of Princess Mathilde (1820-1904), The Tudor Rose. A magnificent antique diamond corsage brooch

Formerly the property of Princess Mathilde (1820-1904), The Tudor Rose. A magnificent antique diamond corsage brooch, by Theodore Fester. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2004

Designed as a large sculpted rose blossom, entirely decorated by old European, old mine and rose-cut diamonds, mounted in silver-topped gold, circa 1855, in a red leather fitted case. Price Realized $701,900

According historical documents, the brooch is said to contain, "2,637 brilliants for 136 carats and 860 little roses not weighed"

Provenance: Princess Mathilde
Sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, "Joyaux de S-A-I Madame la Princesse Mathilde", 26 May-4 June 1904, lot 65, $248,750
Janevich, 1904
Louis Cartier, 1904
Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1904
Private Collection
Sold Christie's Geneva, "Magnificent Jewels", 27 April 1972, lot 344, $28,682
Private Collection

The Tudor Rose, a magnificent diamond corsage brooch, belonged to Princess Mathilde (1820-1904), daughter of Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) and Katharina, Princess of Wurtemberg (1783-1835). The Italian-born Princess was a strikingly beautiful and intelligent woman, whose literary and artistic salon was the most distinguished in France during the Second Empire. The salon included such notables as Proust and Flaubert and her lavish receptions at the Chateau de Saint Cloud and Les Tuileries were renowned. In November 1840 she married a Russian mineral heir, Anatole Demidoff. However, the relationship came to a dramatic conclusion at a dress ball when Demidoff slapped the Princess causing a public scandal. Princess Mathilde was granted a separation by her cousin, Tsar Nicolas I (1796-1855), and fled to Paris with her jewels, which she used to leverage funds for another cousin, Napoleon III. Her fabulous collection of jewels was renowned as being one of the most extravagant in Europe, second only to that of Empress Eugenie herself.

After her death in 1904, Princess Mathilde's jewels were auctioned at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris - the same fate as the French Crown jewels several years earlier. The sale catalogue mentions "a corsage spray in the form of a fully open rose and two rose buds, with eleven leaves set entirely in very fine Brazilian brilliants". This is the stunning brooch, created by the Parisian jeweler Theodore Fester in 1855, and now known as the Tudor Rose.

The jewel was bought by the famous French Art Deco jeweler Janesich and subsequently sold by Cartier to Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the "Queen of New York society". As the wife of one of America's wealthiest "robber barons", Mrs. Vanderbilt amassed a jewelry collection of great importance. The Vanderbilts were among the most influential of the new American aristocracy and Cartier furnished the family dynasty with European crown jewels as well as spectacular custom pieces.

In 1972, the Tudor Rose again passed hands and was sold by Christie's Geneva to a private collector. It was from this collector that Fred Leighton was able to purchase it, and make it the keystone of his personal
Collection.

Known today as the 'Tudor Rose', an oblique reference to the fifteenth century English union between the royal houses of Lancaster and York, this brooch is partie to an incredible past. Journeying from the French salon of Napoleon III to the American aristocracy of the early 1900s, Christie's is proud to offer this very special and beautiful piece of history.

Literature: Bernard Morel, The French Crown Jewels, The Objects of the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of France followed by a History of the French Crown Jewels from François I up to the Present Time, Fonds Mercator, Bilbao, 1988, page 360
Hans Nadelhoffer, Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1984, page 47

Exhibited: "The Splendour of Diamond", Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 9 January-27 February 2004; Hyokeikan, Tokyo National Museum, 7 October-21 December 2003, no. V-22
"Living Diamonds: Fauna and Flora in Diamond Jewellery", Antwerp, 10 October-10 November 2002, no. 52
"French Jewellery of the Nineteenth Century", Wartski, London, 13-23 June 2001, no. 17

Christie's. MAGNIFICENT JEWELS, 12 October 2004, New York, Rockefeller Plaza. http://www.christies.com/