Story Behind Marie Antoinette's Pearl Pendant
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A pearl and diamond pendant that belonged to ill-fated French Queen Marie Antoinette was sold for eighteen times its estimate.
In what can only be described as a significant misreading of the market, an auction by Sotheby's in Geneva led to the sale of the striking pendant for $36 million. It was valued at $2 million by the auction house, but a fierce bidding war resulted in the item setting a world record for a pearl.
It was part of a major collection of jewellery sold by Italy's royal Bourbon-Parma house in 2018, who were no doubt delighted by the result. The whole collection was sold for over $70 million.
The previous record for the most expensive pearl jewel was a necklace once owned by the late Dame Elizabeth Taylor. It was sold for $11.8 million by Christie's in 2011. The pearl, known as La Peregrina, has been depicted in artwork for centuries and was once painted by 17th Century Spanish artist Velazquez. Richard Burton, who married Dame Elizabeth twice, bought the pearl in 1969 at auction for $37,000.
Marie Antoinette was an Austrian princess before her marriage to France's King Louis XVI. Her extravagant lifestyle turned her into a hate figure in the years leading up to the French Revolution, when many French people could barely afford to feed their families. She smuggled out her jewellery to her family in Austria before her failed attempt to flee France with Louis XVI and their children. She was executed in 1793 at the age of 37, alongside her husband, the king.
Despite the rest of the royal family meeting a grizzly end, their eldest daughter, Marie-Thérèse, survived. After three years in solitary confinement, she was released and returned to Austria, where she was reunited with her mother’s hidden jewels, safeguarded by the Austrian Emperor.
Following her death in 1851, the pendant passed to her niece, the Duchess of Parma. It remained in royal hands unseen by the public for more than two centuries, until it surfaced at the 2018 Sotheby’s auction.
