|
|
Storied Yellow Diamonds Could Sell for $14M
Oct 24, 2017 4:07 AM
By Rapaport News
|
|
|
RAPAPORT... Sotheby’s will offer the Donnersmarck
Diamonds, once owned by La Païva, one of the most famous 19th-century
courtesans in Paris, at its Magnificent and Noble Jewels auction in Geneva next
month.
With a pre-sale estimate of $9 million (CHF 8.8 million) to $14
million (CHF 13.7 million), the pair of fancy intense yellow
diamonds consists of a cushion-shaped diamond weighing 102.54 carats, and a
pear-shaped, 82.47-carat diamond. The stones will be offered as a single lot at
the sale taking place at the Mandarin Oriental on November 15, the auction house said.
The diamonds’ one-time owner La Païva,
Countess Henckel von Donnersmarck, rose from modest circumstances
in her native Russia to the European aristocracy. Born Esther Lachmann in 1819, she
arrived in Paris at age 18 and was introduced to cultural and artistic circles by
her lover, composer and pianist, Henri Herz.
In the late 1840s, she met the Portuguese
Marquis Albino Francisco de Araújo de Païva. After their marriage in 1851,
which lasted only one day, she became known as La Païva. She met Count Guido
Henckel von Donnersmarck, a Prussian industrialist and mining magnate, shortly
afterward. Their relationship was the talk of Paris high society and they were
married in 1871.
In 1855, La Païva purchased a plot on the
Champs Elysées: L’Hôtel de La Païva became one of the most lavish mansions ever built
on the avenue. Among its features is a central staircase made of Algerian
yellow marble, which matched the yellow of the Donnersmarck diamonds.
“These stunning diamonds carry with them a
fascinating story, full of romance and determination over adversity, which
could have inspired some of the greatest novels and operas,” said David
Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s international jewelry division.
The diamonds were the top lot at Sotheby’s
first Noble Jewels auction in 2007, when the pear-shaped stone sold for $4.7 million (CHF 5.7 million) and the cushion-shape diamond sold for $3.3 million (CHF 3.9 million), both above their pre-sale estimates at the time. The diamonds are now part of a private collection.
“Jewels of royal and aristocratic
provenance carry with them a special sense of history and these are no
exception,” Bennett said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tags:
Countess Henckel von Donnersmarck, David Bennett, Donnersmarck, Donnersmarck Diamonds, Esther Lachmann, geneva, Henri Herz, Jewelry, La Païva, magnificent and noble jewels, paris, Rapaport News
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|