RAPAPORT... Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s emerald
and diamond necklace by Chaumet, dating back to about 1930, will be among the items Christie’s will
auction next month in London.
Christie’s will tender the piece valued at
$181,200 (GBP 120,000) to $271,900 alongside 150 other items from the Iron
Lady’s collection on December 15, it said on its website. Thatcher died in
April 2013.
A George III Pavé-set diamond flower brooch from roughly 1800s, comprising old cushion,
pear and circular-cut diamonds will also be on sale. Its value is expected to
be $12,100 to $15,100. The ornament was a “firm favorite” of
Thatcher’s, according to Christie’s. She was often photographed wearing it in
the UK and on foreign visits and is portrayed with it on in her official
portrait hanging at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s London residence.
Other lots include Thatcher’s red-leather Prime Ministerial box used to carry documents, estimated
at $4,500 to $7,500, and a figure of an American bald eagle presented to her by
former US President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
A further 200 lots will be available in online-only bids from December 3 to December 16, the auction house said on its
website.
Thatcher held office between 1979 and 1990. London's
Victoria & Albert Museum entered discussions “several years ago” over
whether to add the items to its collection but these conversations did not
develop, according to a Reuters report November 3.
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