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The distinguished private collection, known as the Griffin
Collection, comprises in its entirety examples of every category of
ring – signet, devotional, memorial, decorative – dating from
antiquity to modern times. This catalogue focuses on about one
hundred special rings, chosen as highlights of this extensive
collection with the aim to offer the reader a real history of the
art of the ring across the ages. Covering as they do so many facets
of civilization, rings tell us more about the hopes, aspirations,
taste and sentiments of our ancestors than any other jewels
surviving from the past. Moreover, the examples from the Griffin
Collection, which have been assembled with taste and discernment
over several decades, are not only rare but also of unusually high
quality and intrinsic value. As well as being aesthetically
attractive, these rings offer us a glimpse into the lives of their
owners, as becomes evident in the vivid account offered by Diana
Scarisbrick, one of the world’s leading jewellery historians. The
collection illustrates the many uses of rings—as seals needed for
business, in expressing religious belief, political loyalties and
personal interests such as theatre going, hunting, classical art
and astrology. Some demonstrate high rank and commemorate great
historical occasions; others dating from the Middle Ages to
Victorian England mark the major events of human existence –
love, marriage and death – with rings bearing symbols and
inscriptions. Often connected with historical figures, monarchs,
notably Charles II and William IV or Isabella Zápolya, Queen of
Hungary, but also with popes or artists, such as the Romantic poet
Lord Byron. Each ring reveals personal information about the people
who wore them and the societies in which they lived. An unusually
high proportion of the rings have distinguished later provenance,
coming from celebrated collectors: George Spencer 4th Duke of
Marlborough, Constantine Ionides, Ernest Guilhou, Ralph Harari and
Maurice de Rothschild.
Now available in paperback, this book devotes itself exclusively to
rings, considering them thematically rather than chronologically.
The author, a world expert, has rich historical and literary
knowledge. As she considers rings in all their forms she makes us
delight in them as works of art, and makes their context come alive
through paintings, drawings and vivid quotations.
Diamond jewelry has long been symbolic of political power and
authority in Europe. This book focuses on the individuals who
commissioned and wore extraordinarily precious diamond ornaments
from the mid-14th century until the ‘democratization’ of
diamonds that followed the opening of mines in South Africa in
1867. This enthralling story covers seven centuries of history,
showing the way in which rulers such as Charles V of France, Queen
Elizabeth I of Great Britain, Louis XIV of France and Catherine II
of Russia used diamond jewelry to reinforce their power and
authority. As works of art, these precious creations mirror the
successive styles of each period – late Gothic naturalism, the
culture of the Renaissance, Baroque splendour, Rococo elegance and
the Imperial grandeur of the First and Second Napoleonic Empires.
The recurring themes – religion, sentiment, heraldry, military
glory, miniatures and cameo portraiture – are reinterpreted by
each generation of jewelers. Like royal dress, diamond jewelry was
worn to dazzle and impress – at weddings, coronations,
christenings and state visits – and was presented as gifts
reflecting princely generosity. Over the centuries, these displays
proved remarkably successful as instruments of government,
symbolizing the pride and glory of a nation. Arranged
chronologically, Diamond Jewelry includes some legendary
masterpieces of diamond jewelry. Written by an acknowledged expert,
it offers an intriguing overview of one of the world’s most
precious gems.
An unparalleled collection of rings dating from the 3rd to the 19th
century, presented not chronologically but rather grouped into
timeless themes - birth, love, betrothal, marriage, mourning and
death - thereby achieving greater insight about the beliefs ,
sentiments, status, and practices of their former owners.
Whereas the life of her husband, the dashing Napoleonic general and
diplomat Charles de Flahaut, is well known, Margaret has remained
in the shadows. Yet this biographical study, based on unpublished
and intimate correspondence in the Archives Nationales, Paris,
reveals her to have been the more interesting of the two. It shows
how much he depended on her brains, political judgment and artistic
taste as well as her fortune to guide him in his career. More than
that, their letters to each other also confirm that she made a
success of her controversial marriage and that the bond between
them was strengthened through all the vicissitudes of their life
together. A faithful and sincere friend, she could be an implacable
enemy: Talleyrand's companion, the duchesse de Dino, whom she
dubbed `that horrid little serpent', and the Duke of Wellington,
`that bully', were favourite targets. Her lively, observant but
wicked pen takes us with her on visits to Talleyrand at Valencay,
to the marquis de Lafayette, to the duchesse de Praslin at
Vaux-le-Vicomte, to house parties in stately homes of England and
Scotland - Arundel, Woburn, Bowood, Chatsworth, Grimsthorpe and
Drummond Castle. Acknowledged a superb hostess, her descriptions of
the menus, and entertainments organized in her homes in Scotland,
London, and Paris and at the Flahaut embassies in Vienna and in
London capture the flavour of those cosmopolitan gatherings. Her
guests were also drawn to the display of her fine French furniture
and collection of works of art, acquired during her years in Paris
which set a new fashion in decoration. Interesting, too, are her
accounts of sightseeing in Rome before the city of the Grand Tour
changed into the capital of united Italy. The enjoyable social life
in the continental watering places is also described, for Margaret
believed in the curative effects of spas. A lifelong liberal in
politics and an upholder of Whig principles, her politicomanie
inspires sharp comments on the opponents of Reform in England and
on the self-seeking ministers of Louis-Philippe in France.
Unusually, for a British woman, the daughter of Admiral Keith, an
inveterate enemy of the French, she shared her husband's admiration
for Napoleon and joined with him in supporting Napoleon III. Born
before her time she could have made a name for herself in today's
world as a professional artist or politician in her own right. As
it was, she used her talents to become an expert in the art of
living the life so amusingly and vividly evoked in letters to her
husband, her children and her close friends. These relationships,
which are the heart of the book, are presented to the reader by an
English woman historian, herself a Francophile.
The Collection was begun by the First Duchess of Northumberland in
the early eighteenth century; but the greater part of it was made
later in the century by Algernon Percy, First Earl of Beverley,
during a tour of Europe while in the company of his mentor, Louis
Dutens. Their success in France and Italy was such that it incited
the jealousy of the Empress Catherine of Russia, herself a
passionate collector. The range of objects - cameos, intaglios and
finger rings of the highest quality - is considerable: Greek, Roman
and Etruscan, as well as a notable assemblage of neoclassical
signed gems by British artists. One jewel clearly provided
inspiration for Michelangelo's painting of Adam on the Sistine
Chapel ceiling. The Collection is little known, except by
connoisseurs, but this volume brings to the attention of a broader
audience many of the finest products of one of the oldest arts of
the western world.
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