An imperial parure: the Louvre has achieved a remarkable coup by purchasing—for the highest price ever paid by a museum for items of jewellery—the necklace and earrings which formed part of the emerald parure commissioned by Napoleon for the Empress Marie Louise in 1810. Diana Scarisbrick explains their significance

Apollo, Sept, 2004 by Diana Scarisbrick

Since the King of Rome or Duke de Reichstadt--the Empress's son by Napoleon--predeceased her, she was free to dispose of her jewellery as she pleased. In her will of 1847 she bequeaths to 'ma tante L'Archiduchesse Elise ma grande parure d'emdraudes et diamants consistant d'un Diademe, un collier a poires, une paire de boucles d'oreilles, un Peigne et une Plaque de ceinture'. (7)

Married to the Archduke Rainer, son of Leopold II, the Archduchess Elise left the parure to their son, the Archduke Leopold, godson and cousin of the Empress Marie Louise, and eventually it descended to the Archduke Karl Albrecht, who died in 1951.

On 28 May 1952, Karl Albrecht's widow,theArchduchess Alice (Fig. 2), and her son, the Archduke Karl Stefan, signed an affidavit before the Public Notary in Stockholm certifying the origin and their ownership of the parure. (8) In this statement they emphasise that the Imperial family of Austria always considered that these jewels were by far the best in Marie Louise's collection. The document further notes that the parure had been kept hidden behind the Iron Curtain on the family estate in Poland, but that when it was taken to Sweden, the original saddle-shaped box containing a detailed inventory and a record of the Empress's bequest had to be left behind, with little hope of retrieval. (9)

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By this time the comb had been altered so as to be worn as a less imposing tiara (Fig. 3), but all the other items were exactly as made for Marie Louise in 1810. This was the prelude to a sale and soon afterwards, the tiara and belt clasp were bought by Van Cleef and Arpels, who removed the emeralds and reset them into up-to-date styles for customers such as Mrs Sybil Harrington of Texas (Fig. 4). Although the emeralds were removed from the tiara, the diamonds were not, and, with turquoises filling the empty settings (Fig. 6), it was acquired by Mrs Marjorie Merriwcather Post, the Washington hostess (Fig. 5), who bequeathed it to the Smithsonian Institute. (9) Fortunately, the necklace and earrings remained intact, and were sold to a private owner who lent them to the exhibition 'Dix Siecles de Joaillerie Francaise', held at the Louvre in 1962. (10)

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For the next two decades these jewels never failed to arouse admiration and wonder when worn at important social events, such as state visits. They impressed Cynthia Gladwyn, wife of the British ambassador to Paris, during the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Paris in 1957, who commented on the 'marvelhous emeralds, said to be from the Brazilian Crown Jewels'. (11) They are also are alleged to have hung round the neck of a young Habsburg at a dance at one of the duke of Buccleuch's houses, Boughton, Northamptonshire, in 1988.

Now, if they can no longer be worn by a woman of distinction, it seems fitting that these masterpieces of jewellery, epitomising the grandeur of the Empire, should be permanently on show in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre, which, according to Henry James, with 'its mythical name ... breathes a general sense of glory. The glory meant ... not only beauty and art and supreme design, but history and fame and power, the world in fine raised to the richest and noblest expression'. (12)