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Lot 78

Lady Hamilton's seed pearl and banded agate demi parure,
circa 1800

18 October 2005, 14:00 BST
Oxford

Sold for £18,000 inc. premium

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Lady Hamilton's seed pearl and banded agate demi parure, circa 1800

The necklace composed of a series of oval and circular banded agate cabochons within seed pearl and ropetwist borders, suspending four similarly-set drops with chain swags between, accompanied by a pair of bracelets and earrings ensuite, all jewels with evidence of subsequent conversions, one earring converted to a pendant the other to a hairpin, necklace with one seed pearl border deficient, bracelets lengthened, length of necklace 13.75in(35cm), length of bracelets 7in(18cm), fitted case

Footnotes

By family repute, this demi-parure was presented by the Queen of Naples to Lady Hamilton. She in turn gave it to Mrs H Cadogen, wife of the British Consul at Calais. It was purchased in 1821 from Mrs Cadogen by Mrs Roberts and has subsequently passed through the family to the current owner. Accompanied by several handwritten notes supporting this succession and a newspaper article from The Standard dated October 21, 1905, further corroborating the provenance.

Emma arrived in Naples in 1786 as mistress to Sir William Hamilton, whom she married in 1791. She rapidly became a friend and close confidante to Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples, and remained so until the Hamiltons left in 1800. Lady Hamilton was befriended by the Cadogans in Calais, where she was living in poverty after fleeing England and her debts, Cadogan trying unsuccessfully to persuade the Government to give her a State pension.

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