When I saw this brooch I loved its shape. Plus there’s a beautiful cushion cut diamond in the middle topped by a rose diamond cross. The quality is excellent. It was definitely a royal crown and set with diamonds, but from what country?
Also special is the depth of it. Unlike many crown brooches from Europe or the UK that I’ve seen, this one stands quite high at ½ an inch producing a rich 3d effect.
As a dealer, I always look for hallmarks to tell me where the piece is from and a date, but this jewel had none. I tested the gold it was 14 karat. Stylistically almost certainly late 19th century. For prototypes I looked at René Fosse’s
excellent Crown Jewellery and Regalia of the World, and found dozens of possibilities. To me it’s closest to the Dutch crown.
What do you think?
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- Crown of King Willem I of the Netherlands, photo by René Brus
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- Crown of King Willem II of the Netherlands, photo by René Brus
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- Design for the Crown of King Willem II, 1840 by Bonnebacker of Amsterdam. Photo by René Brus
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- Crown of King George XII of Georgia (1798-1800), gift from Tsar Paul I of Russia whereabouts unknown.
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- Swedish Crown of Queen Lovisa Urika, gold, silver-gilt, diamonds, enamel, velvet, 1751, by Andreas Almgren and designed by Jean Eric Rehn. Both this crown and that of King Erik XIV of Sweden (made in 1561) were present at the accession ceremony of King Carl XVI Gustav in 1973.
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- Crown of King Peter I if Serbia, 1904, by Falize Frères, Paris. Collection and photo Historical Museum of Serbia, Belgrade.
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- Crown of Queen Elisabeth of Romania, 1881. Collection and photo Romanian National History Museum, Bucharest.
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- Crown of the King of Portugal, 1817, workshops of Antonio Gomes da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by Luiz da Costa o Fez. Collection and photo Instituto Português do Patrimonio Cultural, Ajuda Palace, Lisbon, Portugal.
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- Painting of the bridal Crown of Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, by Wiertz, 1833. Commissioned by her father King Willem I. Collection Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Photo by René Brus.
