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Lot Essay
In 1853, Marie-Eugénie-Ignace-Augustine de Montijo (1826-1920), daughter of Don Cipriano Guzman y Porto Carrero, Count of Teba, later Count of Montijo, and Maria Manuela Kirkpatrick, married Napoleon III, Emperor of France, third son of Louis, King of Holland, and nephew of Emperor Napoleon I. In celebration, the French Crown Jewels wers substantially remodelled - a task so great that several of the most famous Parisian jewellers had to be employed. The principal portion of the work fell to the recently reapppointed Crown Jewellers, Bapst, with Frédéric Bapst executing Alfred's designs. Although they made many corsages, necklaces, bracelets, brooches and aiguillettes, all in various styles, the two most important pieces were two diadems known as 'The Russian' and 'The Greek', into which the famous Regent Diamond could be inserted. Empress Eugénie frequently wore these remodelled jewels at the Court of the Second Empire; her beauty and her exquisite choice of jewels were always much admired.
Following the fall of the Second Empire and the advent of the Third Republic in 1870, Eugénie and her husband moved to Chislehurst in Kent, England. Thus, it is possible that this bracelet was purchased from her by Russell Sturgis at this time.
Following the fall of the Second Empire and the advent of the Third Republic in 1870, Eugénie and her husband moved to Chislehurst in Kent, England. Thus, it is possible that this bracelet was purchased from her by Russell Sturgis at this time.