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Necklace of Catherine II

In Geneva on November 17√18, 2005 an auction house Sotheby▓s held an auction titled Magnificent Jewels Sale. The top lot of the sale was a XVIII century diamond necklace ≈ an important relic of the Russian Imperial family. According to Sotheby▓s, the decoration might belong to the Empress Catherine II.

Taking into consideration exceptional and trustworthy provenance of the necklace, experts of the auction house estimated it at stunning 1,176,000√1,960,000 dollars. After fierce bidding the lot was purchased by an anonymous Russian buyer for $1,500,000 (starting price 265,000 dollars). At first sight, the "necklace of the Empress Catherine II" reminded a typical for the third fourth of XVIII century "skladen with devot". An obligatory piece of cloth covering the upper part of a neck imitated a collar of a slave (from French l▓esclave). Wags of the Age of Gallantry when seeing such a decoration worn by the court ladies humorously called it "l▓esclavage" (slavery), i. e. a sort of a sign of being obedient to Venus. In Russian language the hardly pronounceable word quickly "lost" its first letter and strangely sounding "l▓esclavage" was replaced by more accustomed term "skladen".

Necklace. Diamonds. Estimate $1,176,000√1, 960,600. Sold for $1,500,000. Magnificent Jewels sale. Sotheby▓s, Geneva. November 17, 2005 [zoom (39k)]

It was then the practice to wear a necklace with a small cross or a pendant, usually shaped as a bowknot. The court gallants nicknamed that decorative detail coating a tempting dimple between collarbones "devot" (from French "la devote" ≈ prude or hypocrite). An Austrian jeweler Leopold Pfisterer mentioned the similar neck adornment from a ruby set of the Empress Catherine II (created by Pfisterer in 1764; at present the piece is displayed at the Diamond Fund, inventory number АФ-10, АФ-47) in the charge account as a "necklace with a Schleife", because the German word "die Schleife" means a "bowknot".

Unlike most of XVIII adornments, the diamond bowknot-shaped pendant of the "necklace of Catherine II" sold at Sotheby▓s merely covers the clasp of the necklace (2.0 x 30.0 cm), which logically should be situated at the back of the neck. The diamond bowknot had old fasteners attached to it, so it could be used either as a clasp or as a pin or as a brooch. The bowknot pendant located just over the dimple between collarbones.

The auctioneers combined the auctioned decoration from two separate pieces, stating in the sale▓s catalogue: "the collar and the bow-shaped pendant are not parts of the same necklace, as they have been produced in different techniques, and most likely have the different origin".

Fortunately, photographs helped to find out that those two decorations related to different adornments once belonged to the "precious items of the Russian Empire, the Crown Jewelries" (not to the Russian Imperial Family). Together with valuables of the "former Empress" Maria Fedorovna those two pieces were evacuated to Moscow in 1917, then, in 1922, taken to the State Vault and examined by a special commission headed by A. Fersman. Descriptions and monochrome full-size photographs of the objects were included in the subject catalogue "The Diamond Fund of the USSR" (Moscow, 1924√1926). Brief description and picture of the "diamond brooch-bow" (found in the third issue of the catalogue ( 128) fully coincides with the "necklace of the Empress Catherine II".

The pre-revolutionary list of the Crown jewelries featured "two small old bowknot-brooches made of diamonds of different size, served as bracelets". However, only one bowknot of this pair was preserved by 1914. It reminds other two bowknots stored in the Diamond Fund (inventory number АФ-41). Those three items differ from each other by their sizes and rubies in the latter bows. Still, all three pieces have the same pattern.

Necklace. Detail. Diamonds. Estimate $1,176,000√1, 960,600. Sold for $1,500,000. Magnificent Jewels sale. Sotheby▓s, Geneva. November 17, 2005 [zoom (38k)]

A motif of a flower included in the ties of a bowknot was typical for Leopold Pfisterer, who arrived in St. Petersburg from Vienna in the early January 1764 to become the one and the only master of the "Diamond Workshop of Her Majesty the Empress". In 1760s, the celebrated jeweler created ruby, sapphire and pomegranate jewelry sets for Catherine II (some of those objects are kept in the Diamond Fund) simultaneously making separate parts for the diamond attire. Striving to observe all the conditions stipulated by his contract, Pfisterer up to 1770 specified the number and weight of used gemstones on backs of produced adornments. The diamond bowknot of the "necklace of Catherine II" and "small bows for sleeves" (which once were the parts of the sapphire attire of the Empress) mentioned above have the similar marks on them. The inscription on the golden back of the massive silver frame of the "badge" stated that two bows-clasps of the diamond set were decorated by 226 Brazilian diamonds weighing 41 28/32 carat. The unique diamond bowknot was purchased at a London Christie▓s auction (lot ╧ 59) for 300 pounds by S.J. Phillips on March 16, 1927.

At the auction, the same bidder bought an exceptional necklace consisted of twenty-five beautiful Indian and Brazilian solitaires surrounded by minor gemstones for 2,700 pounds (lot No 71). The adornment photographed on black velvet was listed in the fourth issue of the "Diamond Fund of the USSR" (No 195) and described as "riviera" (river) made of "25 big diamonds weighing around 60 micro-carats nested in silver bezels and 598 minor gems weighing 20 micro-carats" adjoined by 24 rose diamonds.

The 1838 list of the Crown jewelries described that decoration as follows: "l▓esclavage with 25 diamonds weighing 2-3 carats, showered by minor diamonds. As ten diamonds were removed for making the Pearl Saint-Sessile, there are only fifteen diamonds left in it". On December 5, 1841 "three more diamonds (weighing 4 3/32 carats for) were taken out and given to jeweler Bolin for making the Pearl Diadem". After 1884, a metal clasp and "thirteen front gems" were added to the "25-pieces l▓esclavage", though, the clasp and the diamonds were not original, but selected from the Crown diamonds. Foreign owners of the "necklace of Catherine II" continued replacing bezels. Finally, the adornment featured 27 solitaires, while diamond curls at the lock were lost.

When presenting the adornment Sotheby▓s auctioneers explained that two extra diamonds in the attire only increase the value of the latter.

The "Register of various diamond and other objects discovered in 1796 in the Room" of Catherine II (later they were taken to the "Crown Room") listed the "skladen-tape of 25 big diamonds and two tapes of minor diamonds on both sides". This note makes it possible to identify that item as an "l▓esclavage" kept among the Crown Diamonds, and as the attire, which was examined by the Fersman commission and named "riviera".

However, since the early 1790s l▓esclavage meant a composite necklace, like a 1795 parure (the State Hermitage, inventory number Э-4675). A variant of neck decoration called "string" (in French "un fil") came into fashion by the same time.

The first reference to the purchase of the similar piece in archives dates back to June 19, 1791, when Catherine II "ordered the Cabinet by her highest will to pay the jeweler Duvall for the Diamond string composed of thirty five gems and showered by minor stones" 3325 rubles. Possibly, the "l▓esclavage-riviera" was made in the early 1790s by Yakov (Jacob-David) Duvall, the Cabinet▓s appraiser and the owner of the large workshop in St. Petersburg inherited by him from his father. A worthy rival of Leopold Pfisterer, Duvall produced many remarkable pieces for Catherine II; in 1797, he became the "Private jeweler" for the Emperor Paul I.

Due to separate sections and links, jewelry masters could vary the length of "strings", while the price for decorations depended on cost of solitaires. From the beginning of XIX century "strings" were poetically called "rivieras" (rivers), as solitaire links were located so close to each other that reminded a sparkling water flow.