SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG UNVEILS
THE WORLD’S GREATEST JADEITE BEAD NECKLACE
.jpg)
The Hutton-Mdivani necklace has 27 gigantic jade beads of incredible translucence, matching magnificent colour and as big as the biggest pearls. To achieve this status, all 27 beads must have come from a single boulder, making it a great rarity!
**************************************
The Hutton-Mdivani Necklace
– With Qing Jadeite Beads reputedly from the Imperial
Court –
Is Expected to Fetch in Excess of RM 43 million!
**************************************
GIVEN TO HEIRESS BARBARA HUTTON BY HER FATHER,
ON THE OCCASION OF HER WEDDING TO PRINCE MDIVANI
Sotheby’s Hong Kong is honoured to present The
Hutton-Mdivani Necklace, the Greatest Jadeite Bead Necklace of Historical
Importance (Expected to fetch in excess of RM 43 million) at
its Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Spring Sale to take place on 7 April
at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Hutton-Mdivani Necklace has the most illustrious provenance spanning members of Western nobility and Imperial China since the turn of last century, and is widely recognised as the most important piece of jadeite jewellery known to the world.
The Hutton-Mdivani Necklace has the most illustrious provenance spanning members of Western nobility and Imperial China since the turn of last century, and is widely recognised as the most important piece of jadeite jewellery known to the world.
This jadeite bead necklace, with an innovative clasp by Cartier,
comprises 27 gigantic jadeite beads of magnificent green colour, excellent
translucency, extremely fine texture and majestic proportions, with diameters
ranging from 19.20 mm to 15.40 mm.
A fine complement to the prominence
of its past owners, this jadeite bead necklace offers a unique collecting
opportunity for jewellery and jadeite connoisseurs.
The Cartier archive records the beads being in their possession in 1933
when an innovative clasp was designed especially for the Hutton family. The
necklace was then presented as a wedding gift in the same year to Barbara
Hutton from her father on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Mdivani.
It
was first worn publically by Barbara Hutton at her 21st birthday party, and
remained in the Mdivani family for over five decades until it was first sold at
auction in 1988 for RM 6.6 million and made news headlines as
the most expensive piece of jadeite jewellery in the world.
Six years later in
1994 it was offered at auction again in Hong Kong, this time doubling its
previous price to RM 14 million and once again
bringing the price of jadeite jewellery to a new level.
QUEK Chin Yeow, Deputy Chairman and Head of Jewellery
Department, Sotheby’s Asia,
said, “We are most honoured to be entrusted to offer in our upcoming
Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale The Hutton-Mdivani Necklace, the greatest
jadeite bead necklace in the world. Of the finest quality and striking
proportions, this jadeite bead necklace with a storied past is an epitome of the
mysterious and captivating beauty of jadeite, the most revered oriental
gemstone, and evokes the glamour of distinguished style icons of both China and
the West at the turn of the last century.
"It stands as the most important piece of jadeite jewellery known to the world and is set to engage keen competition from jewellery cognoscenti.”
"It stands as the most important piece of jadeite jewellery known to the world and is set to engage keen competition from jewellery cognoscenti.”
**************************************
Barbara Hutton (1912 – 1979) – A Fabled Heiress and
Iconic Collector
Socialite and heiress Barbara Woolworth Hutton was among the few in the
West known for her love for jadeite. Heiress to the retail tycoon Frank
Winfield Woolworth, Hutton was one of the wealthiest women in the world when
she turned 21, and known for her distinguished taste, lavish lifestyle as well
as elegance and beauty.
A great patron of the renowned jewellery houses, her
collection encompassed unique commissioned pieces by the most celebrated
jewellers, as well as important royal and noble jewels, among them a pearl
necklace formerly belonging to Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.
**************************************
The World’s Greatest Jadeite Bead Necklace of Supreme
Historical Importance
Widely known as the most important piece of jadeite jewellery to date,
this necklace comprises 27 highly translucent beads of perfectly matched
colour, extremely fine texture and extraordinary majestic proportions ranging
from 19.20 to 15.40 mm in diameter, as well as a patina and polish consistent
with the fine craftsmanship from the late Qing period.
The proportions alone
render them highly unusual and impressive, as top-quality jadeite boulders normally
yield beads of no more than 5 to 10 mm in diameter due to their extreme
scarcity.
To fashion a strand of matching jadeite beads, all the beads must be
carved from the same boulder and as many as thrice the desired number of beads
are often needed from which to select the most suitable ones. With the immense
wastage involved, jadeite bead necklaces rank among the most valuable and
sought-after forms of jadeite jewellery.
The Hutton-Mdivani Necklace is also remarkable for its design. Jade was
incorporated into Western jewellery design in the early 20th century.
As
Cartier embraced this unique oriental gemstone, carved jade became a notable
element in the brand’s signature Art Deco designs and a novel expression of
luxury. The jadeite beads on the necklace were set by Cartier to a ruby and
diamond clasp of clean and geometrical design.
The red colour of rubies, whilst
auspicious in Chinese culture, is also a fine example of the colour palette of
the Art Deco period against the luminous green colour of the beads.
**************************************
Qing Jadeite Beads Reputedly from the Imperial Court
Classic and elegant, the jadeite bead necklace is among the most popular
forms of jadeite jewellery and favoured by the likes of Empress Dowager Cixi of
China, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek and Madame Wellington Koo, wife of the famous
Chinese diplomat V.K. Wellington Koo.
As a result of political instability in the late 19th century, Imperial
treasures were removed from the palace and many of them redesigned into various
forms of jewellery.
Like many lost treasures, the precise origin of the jadeite
beads on this necklace is unknown. Nonetheless, since the beads were of supreme
quality and had already found their way to Europe and been customised into a
piece of haute joaillerie by Cartier by the early 1930s, they can be
dated at least to the late 19th or early 20th century.
The prominence of the original owner of the beads is sufficiently
reflected by their supreme quality. Since its introduction as a tribute to the
Qing Imperial court in the 18th century, jadeite of various forms
was exclusively worn by the ruling class.
Imperial court necklaces in
particular were worn only by Qing emperors and senior officials. Considering
the impressive size and quality, it is likely the beads on the Hutton- Mdivani
Necklace would have been presented to the Imperial court.
An Imperial jadeite
bead necklace acquired in the early 20th century by Oei Tiong Ham, a successful
Chinese businessman in Indonesia, from Beijing’s leading jadeite dealer, Tieh
Bao Ting, was sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2010.
While the 30 jadeite beads on
the Oei Tiong Ham necklace - originally from a Qing Imperial court necklace -
measure 13.40 to 13.30 mm in diameter, the beads on the Hutton-Mdivani Necklace
currently offered are far superior in colour, texture, translucency and size,
which indicates an equally, if not more distinguished original ownership.
No comments:
Post a Comment