This magnificent antique emerald and diamond suite comprises a necklace designed as a graduated line of rectangular-cut emeralds alternating with old-cut diamonds, each set in raised collets. The necklace suspends a fringe of pear-shaped emeralds and has a detachable centre set with an octagonal domed cabochon emerald within an old-cut diamond surround, terminating in an emerald drop.
The suite is completed by a pair of ear pendants en suite, each set with a briolette emerald within a diamond border. Mounted in silver and gold, circa 1830. Necklace length: 33.0 cm. Ear pendants: 3.5 cm long.
The long-held family tradition that the emeralds in the necklace were presented to the 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire by Catherine the Great remains a fascinating element in an already prestigious provenance. Although no documentary literature has yet verified the Russian origin of the stones, the emeralds form an intrinsic part of a jewel that has adorned generations of British aristocratic women.
The Lothian Emeralds
For generations, the family of the Marquess of Lothian believed that the majority of these emeralds had been given by Empress Catherine II of Russia to their ancestor, John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire, during his embassy to St Petersburg between 1762 and 1765.
The tradition is not implausible in character. Lord Buckinghamshire was handsome; Catherine the Great was famously susceptible to attractive men; and, with the immense wealth of the Russian Empire at her disposal, she was in a position to reward those whom she wished to attach to her person and throne. Gold boxes and jewels were among her customary diplomatic gifts.
Lord Buckinghamshire was not the only English diplomat to receive such imperial favour. In 1770, for example, the Empress presented Lord and Lady Cathcart with a magnificent diamond aigrette, said to have been worth twice the value of a similar ornament they had received from Louis XV of France. Lord Cathcart sold Catherine’s aigrette shortly after returning to London, but the Earl of Buckinghamshire appears to have preserved the emeralds for his heirs.
A necklace of this description is listed in the inventories drawn up after the deaths of his widow, Caroline, Lady Buckinghamshire, and of their daughter, Amelia Anne, Viscountess Castlereagh, later Marchioness of Londonderry.
Amelia, also known as Emily, was married to Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, later 2nd Marquess of Londonderry and British Foreign Secretary. She lived very much in the public eye and must have worn the emeralds on great occasions in British and continental court life.
Castlereagh himself, who contributed greatly to the downfall of Napoleon by promoting the career of the Duke of Wellington, also received valuable diamond gifts from European monarchs as tokens of gratitude. These jewels were added to his wife’s collection. He also spent his own money on jewels for her, including an emerald and diamond ornament acquired during the Congress of Vienna.
As Amelia died without children, her emeralds and diamonds passed to her sister’s son, John Kerr, 7th Marquess of Lothian. He had them reset into this superb suite, perhaps for the coronation of William IV in 1831, and probably by the court jewellers Rundell, Bridge and Rundell.
The suite belongs to the grand court style developed for the women of the Bonaparte family during the First Empire. It is conceived as a harmonious arrangement of deep, velvety green emeralds contrasting with brilliant white diamonds of different shapes and sizes. Its grandeur and beauty reflect the wealth and power of the British aristocracy during one of the most splendid periods of national history, in the years following the defeat of Napoleon.
Such necklaces were designed to be worn with the low-cut court dresses displayed at important formal occasions during the Napoleonic period and throughout the following two centuries. At coronations, state visits, court balls and the opening of Parliament, this necklace, associated by family tradition with Empress Catherine the Great, must always have been a remarkable talking point.
As so many historic jewels have since been broken up and sold, the Lothian emerald necklace is one of the rare aristocratic jewels with an important provenance to have survived intact into modern times. It may be compared with Empress Maria Theresa’s bracelet in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch, and with the Marchioness of Londonderry’s amethyst chain from Emperor Alexander of Russia.
Provenance
John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire
1723–1793
By family tradition, the emeralds were presented to him by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, during his embassy to the Court of St Petersburg.
Caroline, Lady Buckinghamshire
died 1817
After her death, her collection included “a necklace of emeralds mounted in gold and another of unidentified green stones.”
Amelia Anne “Emily”, Viscountess Castlereagh, later Marchioness of Londonderry
1762–1829
Daughter of the 2nd Earl and Lady Buckinghamshire. She married Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, later 2nd Marquess of Londonderry and Foreign Secretary. After her death, the Crown Jewellers Rundell, Bridge and Rundell listed among her effects “an emerald and diamond necklace with drops.”
John Kerr, 7th Marquess of Lothian
1794–1841
As Emily died without issue, the emeralds passed to her nephew, the 7th Marquess of Lothian. In 1832 he had the emeralds remounted into the present necklace, which has remained unaltered since.
The necklace then descended through subsequent generations of the Lothian family. It was worn by the wife of the 12th Marquess of Lothian at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953, as seen in the photograph above.
The suite was later offered at auction with an estimate of CHF 1,800,000 to CHF 3,000,000 and was sold.
Source:Diana Scarsbrick;Archive Ursula Butschal;Christies 2008;
