Andrew Prince Investigates the Fate of Jewels in Royal Portraits
A lecture hosted by The Arts Society Ealing
Jewels featured in paintings at the National Portrait Gallery prompted some detective work
February 20, 2024
The next lecture from The Arts Society Ealing will be given by Andrew Prince on the subject “A Portrait of Jewels: Following Missing Treasures Through Canvas.
This talk was inspired by his visit to the National Portrait Gallery. Seeing all the Tudor, Stuart and Hanoverian monarchs, dressed in their finery, he wondered where had all their spectacular jewels gone?
Among the many jewels he traced, Andrew follows ropes of glowing pearls that belonged to Catherine de Medici, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth the First, Queen Victoria and now Queen Elizabeth II. He also follows a spectacular and historic diamond that belonged to King James the first of England, King Charles the First and was later sold, worn by Marie Antoinette, stolen during the French Revolution, purchased by a Russian Aristocrat and later mounted in a tiara by Cartier for an American Heiress, who then became a British Member of Parliament.
Andrew Prince has had many private commissions including Michael Jackson (a large crystal and pearl shoulder jewel) and Shirley Bassey (necklaces). In 2002, the V&A commissioned a collection of jewels to accompany the Tiaras, Past and Present exhibition. In 2005, Andrew made tiaras and jewellery for Mrs Henderson Presents starring Judy Dench. In 2009, pieces were commissioned for The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt and Miranda Richardson. In 2012, he supplied a large collection of jewellery for Downton Abbey: Maggie Smith, Shirley MacLaine, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery were all adorned with elegant tiaras, combs, earrings and necklaces designed and created by Andrew.
The talk will be held at 7.30pm on Monday 26 February at St Barnabas Church Hall, Pitshanger Lane, Ealing (W5 1QG).
Visitors are welcome to attend at £8 per lecture (reduced to £3 for students); payment can be made by cash on the evening or in advance by contacting: spsecretarytase@gmail.com
The Arts Society Ealing belongs to the large umbrella organisation, The Arts Society, previously known as the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS), which was founded in 1968. The local Society, which has a membership of around 140, is now one of the 388 member societies of The Arts Society that have been formed throughout the United Kingdom, in parts of Europe and in Australia and New Zealand.
The Arts Society Ealing holds 10 lectures a year and more information can be found by visiting its web site.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
