“Toi et moi.”

The engagement ring the young Napoleon “must have broken his wallet” to buy for his fiancee Josephine.

 

The golden ring is in an 18th century setting called “toi et moi,” “You and Me,” with opposing tear-shaped jewels — a blue sapphire and a diamond. The carat weight of the two gems is little less than a carat each.

The marriage didn’t last, but “Josephine continued to treasure the ring and gave it to her daughter Hortense, later Queen of Holland, through whom it came down to her son, Napoleon III and his wife Empress Eugene. d-unknown/napoleon-and-josephines-engagement-ring

abcnews/napoleon-josephines-engagement-ring

 

Le collier de perles de Joséphine de Beauharnais, reine de Norvège et de Suède, en vente chez Sotheby’s à Genève le 12 novembre 2014. Read more: parismatch

Een parelketting, uit de collectie van Joséphine de Beauharnais, koningin van Zweden en Noorwegen (1807-1876). Joséphine erfde de ketting van Prinses Augusta van Bavaria, Hertogin van Leuchtenberg (1788-1856). Augusta ontving de ketting hoogstwaarschijnlijk weer uit een gift van haar schoonmoeder, Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), de eerst vrouw van Napoleon Bonaparte en de Keizerin van de Fransen.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s belongings have arrived in Australia at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

 

FRANCE Empress Josephine’s shell cameo diadem, presented to her by her brother-in-law Joachim Murat Empire period 1804–15 gold, shell, mother-of-pearl, cameos, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones 6.7 x 17.0 x 20.0 cm.

 

An impressive array of Napoleon Bonaparte’s belongings have arrived in Australia at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). The collection not only includes luxurious jewellery, watches and silverware, it demonstrates Napoleon’s links to Australia.
A 300-piece exhibition titled ‘Napoleon: Revolution to Empire’, has opened at National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV).

The exhibition includes jewellery and other luxury items as well as an impressive collection of furniture, paintings and ornaments. Also on display are Napoleon’s uniforms, decorative weaponry and trademark hat as well as his first wife’s (Josephine) jewellery, books and silverware, all of which showcase the power-couple’s status and wealth. 

 

 

A personal gold bracelet worn by Napoleon’s mother, Maria Laetitia Ramolino Bonaparte, is also on exhibit. The piece is acrostic in that it spells her name ‘Letitia’ by using semiprecious stones which are used in succession - Lapis Lazuli, Emerald, Turquoise, Idocrasio, Tourmaline, Ialino (Hyaline) and Amethyst. This piece has been loaned by the Napoleonic Museum in Rome (Museo Napoleonico).   

 

 

Jean-Baptiste-Jacques AUGUSTIN French 1759–1832 Portrait of Empress Josephine (Portrait de l’impératrice Joséphine) Empire period 1804–15 watercolour and gouache on ivory 6.7 x 5.4 cm.

 

Read more: jewellermagazine=Napoleonjewellery

As Emperor of France from 1804-1815, the name Napoleon is well known, but what is not widely known is the connection he and Josephine had with Australia. The exhibition explores the strong cultural and scientific links that existed between Australia and France between the 1770s to the 1820s, including Josephine’s fascination with Australia following the publication of Captain Cook’s travels down-under. 

Showcased through pages of books and maps, is information that was collected on an 1805 voyage that Napoleon had funded to landscape the southern Australian coastline we now know as Victoria, which was then named ‘Terre Napoleon’ (Napoleon Land). 

The Bonaparte’s home, Chateau de Malmaison, an estate just outside Paris, held kangaroos, emus and other Australian wildlife including black swans. Josephine’s fascination with Australian flora and fauna led her to become the first person to breed Australian black swans in captivity and she also introduced the wattle and eucalyptus to France from the thousands of specimens brought back from the legendary Baudin voyages to Australia. All flora and fauna still thrive in France today.

Mellerio dits Meller

As 2013 comes to an end I feel this is the proper time to recognize a truly monumental achievement in the jewelry industry. The Parisian high jewelry house, Mellerio dits Meller, spent this year celebrating its 400th anniversary.

The family firm started trading in Versailles in 1777, and attracted the patronage of its most famous client, Marie Antoinette. In 1796, the firm moved to Rue Vivienne, Versailles, retaining the patronage of the Empress Josephine. The family firm then moved to Paris eventually settling at 9 Rue de la Paix

 

The Empress Josephine liked the Mellerio family very much, whom she had authorised to be “presented at the Tuileries every time they had some fine novelties to see”. They had been presented to her by her lady-in-waiting, the Countess of Ségur (whose grandson married the famous writer) and made jewellery for her in a romantic (or neo-Gothic) style, that was very much appreciated a few years later – further proof of the firm’s ability to be ahead of the tastes and trends of its time, which is thus to be found at its suppliers.

Thanks to Josephine, all the nobility of the Empire came mellerio/joaillier-des-reines

 

 

Looking at the antique ledgers, with their elegant entries in spidery writing, brings a moment in history back to life: the list of a cameo and ruby bracelet bought by Marie Antoinette; the Empire diadems purchased by Napoleon’s sisters; or the ruby tiara, bought in 1888 by the king of the Netherlands and seen in its second incarnation with diamonds at a Dutch royal wedding in 2004.

jewels-that-could-tell-400-years-of-history

 

 

Op Máxima's hoofd prijkte fier de tiara die koning Willem III liet maken voor zijn Emma. De midden-saffier is een erfstuk van koningin Anna Paulowna, echtgenote van Willem II. het is een deel van de Saffieren Mellerio Tiara

 

 

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La plus jeune sœur de l’Empereur Napoléon Ier devient Reine de Naples en 1808. Eloignée de la vie politique par son mari, Caroline Murat s'intéresse particulièrement à l'archéo...logie et s'est personnellement impliquée dans les fouilles de Pompéi, en Italie. Une grande partie du mobilier qu'elle commande pour ses palais est d'inspiration romaine ; certaines tables reprennent de véritables mosaïques anciennes.
Après Marie-Antoinette, Caroline est la première reine à se faire confectionner des bijoux de style archéologique chez Mellerio dits Meller. Les bijoux sont inspirés de motifs provenant des fouilles des sites de Pompéi et d’Herculanum ou bien copiés d’après des antiques. Motifs d’oiseaux et d’amours sont des exemples d’ornements réalisés pour les bagues de la Reine de Naples.

 

Première rencontre entre l'Impératrice Joséphine et François Mellerio : extrait du livre écrit par Joseph Mellerio, fils de François.
"On arriva ainsi a l’année 1804, et, le 18... mai, le premier consul fût proclamé empereur des Français.
M. de Ségur avait été nommé grand maître des cérémonies de la maison de l’Empereur, et sa femme, dame d’honneur de l’Impératrice Joséphine ; elle était la cliente de François, elle s’intéressait beaucoup à lui ; elle lui trouvait de si belles manières, et toujours si correctes, qu’elle lui promit de le présenter à l’Impératrice.
Un jour, qu’elle était de service, elle envoya un garde à cheval, avec une lettre, pour prévenir François qu’il devait se rendre immédiatement au château des Tuileries, pour êtres présenté à l’Impératrice Joséphine.
François était dans tous ses états, il se mit sur son trente-six, et après avoir rassemblé ce qu’il avait de plus riche et de plus à la mode, il se dirigea vers les Tuileries tout émotionné. La Comtesse de Ségur l’attendait, elle le fit monter dans les appartements privés de l’Impératrice, et le présenta elle-même.
Il fut reçu avec bienveillance, et quand l’impératrice apprit qu’il avait servi dans l’armée française, elle le félicita et lui dit en souriant : « vous deviez être un beau grenadier, monsieur Meller »
L’Impératrice fit différentes emplettes pour des cadeaux qu’elle voulait faire à des personnages de la cour, et l’autorisa à se présenter aux Tuileries toutes les fois qu’il aurait de belles nouveautés à voir.
François était dans le ravissement : il ne tarissait pas d’éloges sur la beauté et la gracieuseté de l’Impératrice Joséphine." facebook.com/Mellerio1613

 

 

Verlovingsring van Napoleon

Op een veiling in Fontainebleau, in de buurt van Parijs, is een verlovingsring van Napoleon Bonaparte verkocht voor een recordbedrag van 896.400 euro. Napoleon gaf de ring rond 1796 aan zijn toekomstige vrouw Joséphine de Beauharnais. De gouden ring is bezet met een diamant en een saffier. ring-Napoleon

Amethysts

Amethysts are well represented in the royal families of Europe; with hues ranging from light purple to deep, vibrant purple. The most magnificent set of amethysts, at least according to this humble author, belongs to the Swedish royal family. The amethysts, which are part of the Bernadotte Family Foundation, date to the first French Empire. They were originally the property of the Empress Josephine, who in turn gave them to Princess Augusta Amalia of Bavaria when she married Josephine’s son, Eugene de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg. 
heir daughter Josephine of Leuchtenberg married Crown Prince Oscar of Sweden, later becoming Queen of Sweden. Incidentally, Oscar was the son of King Charles XIV John of Sweden and his wife Désirée, who was originally engaged to Napoleon Bonaparte; she had broken it off upon meeting the man she would eventually marry, becoming the Queen Consort of Sweden and Norway.

wiki/Josephine of Leuchtenberg
wiki/Oscar_I_of_Sweden

Upon her marriage to Crown Prince Oscar, Josephine brought with her an astounding collection of jewels, which included the Swedish sapphire parure, the emeralds which are now part of the Norwegian royal jewel collection, and the amethysts. The original demi-parure consisted of a necklace, pendant earrings, two bracelets, a brooch, and a corsage ornament. Queen Silvia later had the necklace mounted on a tiara frame, and the two bracelets combined with the corsage ornament to create a necklace. This provided the Swedish royal family with an amethyst tiara, necklace, pendant, brooch, and earrings. This set comprises exquisitely large amethysts of the deepest and most desirable shades of purple which are set in gold, surrounded by diamonds set in silver. Queen Silvia wore the amethysts to the wedding of the Crown Prince of Denmark (here) and to the 1984 Nobel Prize award ceremony (here);  

Crown Princess Victoria  has also worn them (she is seen here wearing the tiara and earrings, and here wearing the necklace without the drop pendant, together with the brooch and earrings). the royal universe

Wedding Napoleon and Marie Louise

Like her grand-aunt Marie-Antoinette, Marie-Louise had to strip off her Austrian clothes upon crossing the French border, and was presented with a new, splendid trousseau (complete set of clothing, shoes and undergarments for all occasions.) Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples and Napoléon’s sister, had been put in charge of greeting the bride at the border.

So Marie-Louise wore the wedding clothes that had been chosen for her in France: a magnificent dress of silvertulle, embroidered with pearls and gold thread, and hemmed with gold fringe. A diamond tiara held a veil of Alençon lace over her blonde hair.

Marie-Louise wore white satin slippers, embroidered in silver thread. There was a minor, or not so minor from her standpoint, problem. Maybe due to a miscommunication between Vienna and Paris, the dainty shoes had been ordered too small and caused the new Empress a great deal of pain.

Read more  catherinedelors/empress-marie-louises-wedding-gown/

The Marie-Louise diadem, now part of the Smithsonian Collection, was a wedding gift from Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise in 1810. The diadem was originally part of a set that also included a necklace, comb, belt buckle, and earrings, all made of emeralds and diamonds set in silver and gold. They were all made by French Jeweler Etienne Nitot et Fils of Paris. marie-louis-

Read also: marie-louise-of-austria

Marie-Antoinette’s private jewelry collection

The Marie-Antoinette Blue Diamond: Marie-Antoinette’s private jewelry collection contained a 5.64 carat blue heart shaped diamond which the queen had set in a ring. The queen gave the ring to her close friend Princess Lobomirska, shortly before her trail in 1791. After the Polish princess died her estate was passed to her four daughters. The diamond became the property of Count Wladimir Potocki through his marriage to one of the daughters. The blue diamond was displayed at a number of prestigious exhibitions throughout the 19th century. In 1967 it was sold to a private collector at the Palais Galliera in Paris, and in 1983 it came up for auction at Christie’s in Geneva. It belongs to a private collector in Europe and is not on displayed to the public.

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Marie-Antoinette's ear-drops, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. lady reading/marieantoinette

Marie Louise of Austria

Marie Louise of Austria (Maria Ludovica Leopoldina Franziska Therese Josepha Lucia von Habsburg-Lothringen; 12 December 1791 – 17 December 1847) was the second wife ofNapoleon I, Emperor of the French and later Duchess of Parma. As such, she was Empress of the French from 1810 to 1814, and subsequently ruler of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla from 1814 until her death. She was an obedient wife and was adored by Napoleon, who had been eager to marry a member of one of Europe's leading royal houses to cement his relatively young Empire. She bore Napoleon a son, styled the King of Rome at birth, later Duke of Reichstadt, who briefly succeeded him as Napoleon II. Marie Louise was married by proxy to Napoleon on 11 March 1810 at the Augustinian Church, Vienna.^[18] Napoleon was represented by Archduke Charles, the bride's uncle.^[19]According to the French ambassador, the marriage "was celebrated with a magnificence that it would be hard to surpass, by the side of which even the brilliant festivities that have preceded it are not to be mentioned."^[20] She became Empress of the French and Queen of Italy.

Marie Louise departed Vienna on March 13,^[21] probably expecting never to return.^[22] She met Napoleon for the first time on March 27 in Compiègne,^[23] remarking to him: "You are much better-looking than your portrait."^[23]
 

This diamond and Persian turquoise studded crown or "diadem" was part of the "parure" (pah-rur), or suite of royal jewelry that was a wedding gift from Napoleon to his bride Empress Marie-Louise. The crown originally contained emeralds instead of Persian turquoise. The crown was taken to Austria by Marie-Louise after the fall of the empire, and the abdication of Napoleon in 1814, and remained in her collection through her rule as the Duchess of Pharma. Empress+Marie-Louise

first empire/Biographies/Marie_Louise

The civil wedding was held at the Château de Saint-Cloud on 1 April 1810.^[24] The next day, Napoleon and Marie Louise made the journey to Paris in the coronation coach.^[25] TheImperial Guard cavalry led the procession, followed by the herald-at-arms and then the carriages.^[25] The Marshals of France rode on each side, near the doors of the carriages.^[25]The procession arrived at the Tuileries Palace,^[26] and the Imperial couple made their way to the Salon Carré chapel (in the Louvre) for the religious wedding ceremony.^[26] The ceremony was conducted by the Cardinal Grand Almoner of France.^[27]

 

Napoleon was totally attentive to Marie-Louise, barely leaving her side for the first month of the marriage. Within a year of the wedding, she was delivered of a boy, titled the King of Rome. The famous portrait of Marie-Louise holding the child.
 

Cradle of Napoleon II, Duke of Reichstadt: a gift of the City of Paris to Napoleon I and Empress Marie Louise.

 

“Duke of Reichstadt” Louis Léopold Boilly, after Daffinger - c. 1830After Napoléon’s downfall, his son was taken back to the court of his grandfather, Francis II, in Vienna. There he was renamed Duke of Reichstadt and carefully tutored in Hapsburg history and culture. Although he hoped to someday have a realm of his own, he was to die of tuberculosis in July 1832 at the age of 21.Historical Provenance - Monstesquiou collection.Indian ink on paper

But love, real though it was, was short-lived. It would not survive Napoléon’s defeat and abdication. For a while the idea of a regency, with Marie-Louise herself as regent during the minority of her son, seemed the most likely outcome. This was the solution favored by Alexander I, Tsar of Russia. But other forces were at work. England preferred to see the Bourbons restored. Fouché, Bonaparte’s minister of Police and most implacable enemy, saw to it that Marie-Louise returned to her native Vienna with her son, and the King of Rome never stepped onto any throne. Napoléon and Marie-Louise would never see each other again.

 Back in Austria, still married to Napoléon, Marie-Louise would bear more children and, once widowed, she would marry again twice. And a dying Napoléon would call out Joséphine’s name. What politics had joined together, politics put asunder.  catherine delors

 

The Palace of Colorno was given to Napoleon’s second wife Empress Marie Louise, who thought of it as her favorite home away from home (see Napoleon's Fontainebleau Palace) and lived there until her death as the Grand Duchess of Austria (see Habsburgs Kaisers Tomb Vienna) after Napoleon met his Waterloo. Marie Louise reshaped the garden in the English style park it is today.


After the end of Napoleon I’ s rule of France and the collapse of empire, the remaining Bonapartes fled from Paris. The Empress Marie Louise departed to Italy (see Palace Colorno). Napoleon’s adopted daughter of Josephine, Hortense de Beauharnais was offered refuge with her son Louis in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Constance opposite the Isle of Reichenau at a villa built in the 16th Century by the previous mayor of Constanz, above the lakeside town of Ermatigen. They moved in to the mansion (called a castle, though hardly) in 1818, where Madame de Beauharnais pursued extensive renovations, including a garden designed in accordance with the philosophical romantic concepts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (seeChateau Chillon).

 

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Vase fuseau avec le "portrait de l'impératrice Joséphine". Sèvres (1813 – Malmaison

 

Paire de boucles d'oreilles de la parure de perles de Joséphine (Louvre)

Parure d'opales de la reine Hortense (Château d'Arenenberg, musée Napoléon)

Vase fuseau avec le "portrait de l'impératrice Joséphine". Sèvres (1813 – Malmaison

notes de musees

Juwelen

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) had een enorme liefde voor juwelen. Onder zijn bewind bloeide de decoratieve kunst in Parijs weer op en grote juweelhuizen – zoals hofjuwelier Nitot, de stichter van het latere huis Chaumet - kenden een glorietijd. Ondanks het kleine postuur van de Corsicaanse generaal, was hij een militair genie met een angstaanjagend ego. Zijn hervormingen druisten in tegen de idealen en de soberheid van de Franse Revolutie (1789) en een rijke juwelentraditie vond tijdens zijn bewind dan ook snel ingang.

http://blog.seniorennet.be/

Jewelry, shoes and dress of Josephine de Beauharnais.

Josephine's Sapphire and Diamond Diadem

Jewelry of Josephine

Dresses of Josephine

Shoes of Josephine

watch

Featured above is an outstandingly fine, rare and historical 18K gold, enamel and diamond-set hunter case ‘petite souscription � tact’ watch, made for Josephine Bonaparte, Empress of France, and given to Hortense de Beauharnais Signed Breguet, No. 611, made for Madame Bonaparte and sold to her in 1800.

The Hortensia Diamond

The Hortensia Diamond
This peach colored stone was named after Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland, who was Josephine's daughter and the step-daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Hortensia had been part of the French Crown Jewels since Louis XIV bought it. You can see the Hortensia on display in the Louvre, Paris.
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The Hortensia Diamond is a 20 carat pale orangish-pink diamond added to the Crown Jewels of France by King Louis XIV. It owes its name to Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland, undoubtedly because she wore it. Hortense was the daughter of Empress Josephine, the step-daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and the mother of Napoleon III. The Hortensia was among the jewels stolen from the Royal Treasury in September of 1792. One year later, a man named Depeyron disclosed (just prior to his execution) that he had hidden a bag containing gold and diamonds in the attic of an old house in the Halles district. The Hortensia was thus recovered together with The Regent Diamond and a number of other jewels. In between, in 1830, the diamond was stolen again, on this occasion from the Ministry of the Navy, but was quickly recovered. When the French Crown Jewels were sold in 1887, the Hortensia was one of the items excluded from the sale, along with the Regent, because of their historic and artistic interest. They were put in the Louvre.