Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sotheby's Auctioning "Crown Jewels"











LONDON.- 



    Sotheby’s announced itssale of Jewels to take place on Tuesday, 13 March 2012. Comprised of 249 lots,the sale is estimated to fetch in excess of £1.3 million.


    The sale will behighlighted by a variety of elegant jewels of great provenance, as well as finepieces from the collection of Edith, Lady Londonderry and her daughter LadyMairi Bury. 


    The sale will alsofeature replicas of some of the Crown Jewels. 

    Commenting on the sale,Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, Specialist, Sotheby’s Jewellery Department, said:“This sale presents an excellent opportunity for collectors to acquire elegantjewels with great provenance from a variety of historical periods - from the19th century to the present day. We are delighted to offer this array of jewelsof great workmanship in our London sale of fine Jewels”. 

  







    Of particular interestin Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Year, replicas of the Crown Jewelscomprising the Coronation Crown, Orb and Sceptre will be offered at auction.Estimated at £3,000 – 5,000, they comprise a replica of St Edward’s Crowndecorated with coloured pastes, with purple velvet and a fur trim; a replica ofthe Sovereign’s Sceptre, incorporating a simulant stone representing theCullinan I; and a replica of the Sovereign's Orb, similarly set. The objectsare accompanied by three velvet cushions. 

    Replicas of the CrownJewels were made around the time of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation in order totravel and to be shown to the Commonwealth countries. The present replica ofthe Crown Jewels is thought to have been exhibited in New Zealand.








NOTE:  I suspect it’sjust me, but I think that anyone in the market for a set of fake “Crown Jewels” (of impeccable provenance!)is psychologically suspect or, to put it more positively, a source of rich material formembers of the psychiatry and psychology professions.  Whoever wrote the Sotheby’s press releasedefinitely has a future in politics.







 
A very nice picture of HRH QueenElizabeth II meeting students atLeicester University in 1958

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