Origin of Name :-
The name refers to a three-strand oriental pearl
necklace of matchless beauty that was once owned by Madame Thiers, wife
of the interim President Louis-Adolphe Thiers, of the third republic of
France, that was declared soon after the downfall of Napoleon III,
following his defeat and surrender to the Germans, in the disastrous
Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. Madame Thiers is reputed to have
collected the pearls required for the necklace, almost piece by piece,
from Germain Bapst of Messrs. Bapst of Paris, jewelers to the French
royalty. Thiers died in 1877, and his widow, Madame Thiers bequeathed
her husband's art collection as well as her famous three-strand pearl
necklace, to the Louvre Museum, in 1880, under the terms of her last
will. The necklace was put on display, together with the French crown
jewels, in the Galerie de Apollon, and fortunately escaped the 1887
dispersal of the French crown jewels, authorized by the National
Assembly, which considered them as decadent symbols of the old order.
Only certain pieces of jewelry that had some cultural or historic
significance were retained, and the Madame Thiers pearl necklace was
among them. The necklace was displayed in the Louvre for 41 years, but
in 1922, authorities of the Louvre seem to have reassessed their
position in respect of this valuable necklace, which they now saw as
neither having any "artistic character" or "educational value," and
sought permission of the National Assembly to dispose of it, which
was duly grated by a bill in 1922. Cartier purchased the necklace at the
sale conducted by the Louvre in 1924, and put it on display at their
Paris and New York headquarters. The necklace was later sold to an
anonymous buyer in America, and is believed to have been dismantled
subsequently, and the pearls incorporated in other pieces of jewelry.
Characteristics of
the pearl necklace
The Madame Thiers three-strand pearl necklace was
composed of 145 perfectly matched, rose-colored, oriental pearls, with a
total weight of 2079 grains. Three of the largest pearls in the necklace
weighed 51 grains, 39 grains and 36 grains respectively. The outermost
strand consisted of 55 pearls, the middle strand of 49 pearls, and
the innermost strand of 41 pearls. The largest pearls were situated
along the median line of the necklace, on each strand. The arrangement
of the pearls in each strand from the outer to the inner strands were as
follows :- 27-1-27, 24-1-24 and 20-1-20, where number 1 represents the
median pearl, and the equal numbers on either side, the number of pearls
on either side of the median line. The pearls were mostly spherical or
near-spherical in shape. The larger pearls were situated towards the
lower end of the necklace, and the smaller pearls towards the clasp.
Except for the color of the pearls, other characteristics such as the
luster, orient, surface quality etc. of the pearls are not known.
However, going by the description of the pearl necklace, and the
enormous price fetched by the necklace at its sale in 1924, which
approached nearly $700,000, equivalent to about $2,250,000 by today's
standards, the characteristics of the pearls must be indeed exceptional.
Madame Thiers' Three Stranded Pearl Necklace
Source: Oakland Tribune Magazine- September 1924
The clasp of the necklace to which the three strands
are attached are set with 12 round-shaped diamonds
History of the pearl
necklace
Source of the pearls
in the necklace
The pearls on the Madame Thier's pearl necklace, was
described as rose-colored oriental pearls. The term "oriental pearls"
was used in the west in the past to refer to pearls originating in the
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar, the hub of the
international pearl trade since ancient times. The pearl banks of the
Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mannar, were two of the most prolific
sources of pearls in ancient times and had adorned the ornaments,
dresses, crowns and other regal paraphernalia in the courts of kings and
emperors of ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptian. Mesopotamian,
Phoenician, Greek, Roman etc. In the mid-19th century, when the necklace
was created by Bapst, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mannar, were
still producing sufficient quantities of pearls.
The main species of oyster on which the natural pearl
industry of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mannar was based, was the
bivalve mollusk Pinctada radiata. The oyster grows to a size of about 7
to 8 cm. The shells are pale yellow in color, and has 7 or 8 brownish
radial bands. The lip of the shell is slightly pinkish in color. The
Persian variety of Pinctada radiata, is slightly larger and darker than
the Gulf of Mannar variety, and has a reddish lip. The oysters have a
life span of about 7 to 8 years. The color of the nacre is usually
white, but can also be cream or light pink. However, colors such as
yellow, brown and violet are also occasionally found. Thus, the color of
the pearls, are also usually white, but colors such as cream, yellow,
pink or rose, brown, violet etc. also do occur sometimes. Thus white is
the dominant color of pearls produced by Pinctada radiata, but rose
pink, the color of the pearls on the Madame Thier's pearl necklace, are
also sometimes produced. Pinctada radiata was well known for producing
medium sized pearls, as well as seed pearls less than 2 mm in diameter,
that occur as clusters inside the oyster. Rarely, Pinctada radiata can
also produce large baroque pearls of extraordinary sizes.
Designing of the
necklace - When and by whom was the necklace strung together?
The rose colored, oriental pearls that constituted
the necklace was collected over a period of time, by Madame Thiers, some
of them virtually piece by piece, from Germain Bapst. It was also
reported that nearly a third of the 145 pearls were added by
Mademoiselle Dosne, the sister of Madame Thiers. However, the identity
of the jewelers who strung the pearls together, or when exactly they
were put together are not known. Given the fact that most of the
individual pearls were actually purchased from Bapst of Paris, one could
safely assume that the necklace was also designed by them. However, the
design of the clasp of the necklace seem to bear similarities to the
signature clasps produced by Cartier's of Paris, founded in 1847 in
Paris, France. Perhaps this may explain why Cartier's showed special
interest in acquiring the necklace when it was auctioned by the Louvre
in 1924.
The possible period when the necklace was designed
was either between 1836 and 1840, when Louis-Adolphe Thiers was the 20th
Prime Minister of France under Louis Philippe, the King of the French,
or when he was the interim president of the third republic between 1871
and 1873. Madame Thiers married Adolphe Thiers in 1833, when she was
just 15 years old, and he was the Minister of the Interior at that time.
Even though her father was a rich financier, and she had the means of
putting together a pearl collection, it is doubtful, whether as a
teenager she would have been sufficiently motivated to take a special
interest in jewels. Thus in all probability, Madame Thiers would have
commissioned the pearl necklace only during the period 1871 to 1873,
when her husband was the interim President of France. However, she must
have initiated her collection much earlier, as putting together a
collection of 145 natural rose colored oriental pearls, was no easy
task, given the rarity of the color and size of the pearls.
Louis-Adolphe Thiers
- A short biography
His birth and early life
Born to a family of cloth merchants, on April 16,
1797, at Marseille, France, Louis-Adolphe Thiers, was given a sound
education, first at the lycee of Marseille, that laid the foundation for
his future intellectual pursuits, breaking away from the family
tradition of trade. He joined the faculty of law at Aix-en-Provence, and
having successfully graduated, was called to the bar at the age of 23.
Even though his degree in law would have been a stepping stone to an
illustrious legal career, Adolph Thiers was more oriented to a career in
writing, a powerful weapon that could sway public opinion, whose logical
conclusion would be an illustrious career in politics. However, his days
in the law faculty, also undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for his
future political career, and he turned out to be a very effective
speaker and debater, two qualities that go to make a successful
politician, as well as a lawyer.
His interest in
writing that establishes his identity as a leading literary figure in
France
His interest in writing soon took him to Paris, where
he joined as a contributor to the "Le Constitutionnel" At the end of
every year he collected and published a volume of his articles. During
these days his survival was assured by the magnanimity of Cotta, the
well-known Stuttgart publisher and proprietor of "Le Constitutionnel"
who paid him for his work. Thiers now began working on his celebrated
publication, "Histoire de la revolution francaise" that established his
identity as a leading literary figure, and subsequently helped him gain
political fame. The first two volumes of the book appeared in 1823, and
by 1827 the publication of the ten volumes of the book had been
completed. The returns from the publication was not encouraging, but the
book became immensely popular. His work was criticized by many
authorities including Sir Thomas Calyle, for its extreme inaccuracy and
prejudice.
Thiers
starts an opposition newspaper "National" that helped to stir up the
1830 July revolution, that installed Louis Philippe as king
In 1830, Thiers with his law faculty friend Mignet,
Armand Carrel and Sautelet, started a new opposition newspaper called
the "National" whose writings helped to stir up the 1830 July
revolution, that ousted the senior branch of the Bourbon monarchy,
re-installed by the allies after the fall in power of Napoleon I in
1814, and proclaimed a successor from the cadet branch of the House of
Bourbon, Louis Philippe as the King of the French in August 1830. During
this revolution, Thiers came into prominence as a radical supporter of
Louis Philippe, and was elected as deputy for Aix, and appointed to the
Ministry of Finance.
Louis-Adolphe Thiers
His appointment as
Minister of the Interior in 1832 and his marriage to Elise Dosne in 1833
In 1832, he was appointed as the Minister of the
Interior, and while in this capacity he married his young wife, the
15-year old Elise Dosne in 1833, the daughter of a rich financier from
Lyon. The marriage gave a boost to his political career, as he was able
to secure financial backing in the pursuit of his political ambitions.
His appointment as
Prime Minister in 1836, a post which he held till October 1840
On February 22, 1836, he became the president of the
ministerial council, in effect the Prime Minister of France, a post
which he held until 31st March 1939. He resigned and joined the
parliamentary opposition, and on March 1, 1840 became the president of
the council and foreign minister for the second time, a post which he
held until October 29, 1840. It was during this short period as Prime
Minister that he initiated the return of Napoleon's remains to France in
1840. His support for Egypt in the eastern crisis of 1840 led to his
removal by the king as Prime Minister, who did not want to antagonize
the great powers of the time.
His brief
retirement from politics until 1845, during which period he reverts back
to writing
After this dismissal as Prime Minister, Thiers took
leave of politics, for some time and reverted back to his former career
as a writer. In 1845, he published the first volume of his book,
"Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire" In the beginning of 1846, he took
to active politics again as the leader of the opposition group of the
center left, and became a liberal opponent of the July monarchy. He then
continued his work on the "Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire" that was
published in 20 volumes between 1845 and 1862.
Thiers
refuses the premiership offered by Louis Philippe, at the height of the
February 1848, revolution
During the February revolution of 1848, precipitated
by economic mismanagement and the deteriorating condition of the working
classes, and a sustained campaign by Louis Bonaparte from England for
the restoration of Bonapartism in France, Louis Philippe offered Thiers
the premiership, which he refused, but soon both the King and Thiers
were swept aside by the revolutionary tide, that led to the proclamation
of the second republic on February 26, 1848. He was elected to the
constituent assembly of 1848. Thiers as a leader of the rightwing
liberals, was a bitter opponent of the socialists. Under the second
republic, he took up the position of a conservative republican, a
position which he maintained for the rest of his life.
Thiers
supported Louis Bonaparte for the Presidency in the 1848 elections, but
opposed him when he tried to manipulate the constitution and install
himself as Emperor
He supported Louis Bonaparte for the presidency in the
December 10, 1848, elections that saw Louis Bonaparte being elected as
the President of the second republic by a landslide victory, polling 5.5
million votes, but subsequently withdrew his support when Louis
Bonaparte tried to manipulate the constitution and have a plebiscite
installing himself as Emperor. Thiers was arrested during the December
1851 coup d'etat, and was incarcerated at the prison of Mazas, before
being exiled out of the country. However, he was allowed to return the
following summer. He retired from politics again during the next decade,
concentrating on the completion of the 20 volumes of his book "History
of the Consulate and the Empire," which was completed in 1862. He
re-entered politics in 1863, elected by a Parisian constituency, and for
the next seven years was the chief speaker among a small group of
anti-imperialists in the French chamber, who dared to oppose Napoleon
III.
The great display
of statesmanship by Thiers during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/71,
that led to his triumphant re-entry to politics
In 1870, Thiers strongly opposed war with Prussia, in
spite of being accused of lack of patriotism. However, his stand was
clearly vindicated when France suffered defeat after defeat in the war
within a period of few weeks. During the course of the war he urged for
peace negotiations, and refused to take part in a government of National
Defense, that was determined to continue the war. His statesmanship was
clearly brought to the fore, when he undertook a foreign tour of
Britain, Russia, Italy and Austria, in September/October 1870, in the
hope of obtaining some form of mediation, and in his attempts to
persuade Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and the Government of
National Defense to negotiate, which elevated his profile as a true
statesman. Finally, when Napoleon III was defeated and forced to
surrender to the Germans, France declared the 3rd Republic, and Thiers
once again triumphantly re-entered the political scene.
Thiers
elected as head of a provisional government on February 17, 1871
In the national elections that followed the
disastrous war, Thiers was elected in 26 departments, and on February
17, 1871, Thiers became the head of a provisional government, known as
the "Head of the executive power of the Republic until the institutions
of France are decided." One of the first acts of his interim presidency
was the consolidation of peace with Germany, that was voted by a margin
of five to one in the national assembly on March 1, 1871.
The greatest
challenge faced by Thiers just one month after assuming office as
interim president
Just one month after taking over office as the
interim president of France, Thiers had to face the greatest challenge
of his political career, when a major insurrection began in Paris,
after he ordered the army, to seize several hundred canons in the
possession of the Paris National Guard. Thiers shifted his government to
Versailles until the matter was resolved. Taking advantage of the
absence of government in Paris, the Parisians elected a radical
republican and socialist city government on March 26, which they
referred to as the "Paris Commune." The stage was now set for a
confrontation between the two sides. Fighting broke out in April between
the government troops and the fighters of the Paris Commune, and
continued throughout April and May, with neither side willing to back
down or negotiate. The limited civil war came to a head on May 21, when
government forces broke through the city's defenses. and a week of
street fighting, known as the "bloody week" began. This resulted in the
worst massacre in Europe, between the French revolution and the Russian
revolution. Thousands of Parisians died in fighting or were summarily
executed by courts martial. When the war ended, Thiers ordered the legal
prosecution of the thousands of prisoners taken by the army. Around
12,000 prisoners were tried by special courts martial, of whom 23 were
executed and 4,000 found guilty and exiled to New Caledonia, from where
the last prisoners were released after amnesty in 1880. The blame for
the massacres and the repression has always been placed on Thiers, and
was responsible for not only overshadowing his memory in the history of
France but also belittling his previous achievements as a great
statesman. However, what puzzles many is how the blame for the enormous
massacres committed could be placed entirely on the shoulders of one
individual, who talked the language of peace with his enemies the
Germans, to spare the lives of the French soldiers in a disastrous war.
It is difficult to understand how a man of peace could have been accused
of committing such atrocities on his own people. As the Head-of-State,
undoubtedly he should share part of the blame, but a greater portion of
the blame no doubt goes to the commanders of his army who seem to have
gone completely out of control.
Thiers
rules France as interim President, until May 24, 1873, when his
government is defeated in a no confidence motion
Having overcome the initial challenges to his rule,
Thiers set about with the task of governance and resurrecting the war
torn economy of the country. He was against the free trade ideas that
prospered under the empire, and was a confirmed protectionist. He
advocated compulsory military service. In January 1872, he formally
tendered his resignation, but was not accepted, even though most of the
parties in the national assembly disliked him. Thus his continuation as
interim president was considered a necessary evil by most of the
parties, until they found a suitable alternative. In the year 1873,
attacks on Thiers by the royalist majority in the National Assembly kept
mounting, who feared his popularity among the electorate and his future
presidential ambitions. In April 1873, the royalists introduced and
passed legislation in the National Assembly, to curb the executive
powers of the president. An election in Paris soon after that, resulted
in the election of a far left candidate, a radical republican, by the
name of Barodet. The Royalists led by Duc de Broglie, who were genuinely
concerned about the country's movement too far to the left, then moved a
motion of no confidence in the government, which was carried by a
majority of 16 votes, in an assembly of 704 deputies. Thiers at once
tendered his resignation on May 24, 1873, which was accepted by all
parties in the house, and a professional soldier, Marshal Patrice de
MacMahon, was elected as the provisional president.
Louis-Adolphe Thiers
After
relinquishing power as interim president, Thiers continues to play a
role in shaping the destinies of his country, until his death on
September 3, 1877.
After his fall from power, Thiers continued to sit in
the national assembly. In 1875, the national assembly approved the long
awaited constitution of the third republic, known as the "Constitution
of 1875" that put in place the constitutional structures of the Third
Republic, and the creation of a constitutionally-based President of the
Third Republic. The same constitution also created the lower house known
as the Chamber of Deputies and the upper house known as the Senate.
Thiers continued to sit in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies,
although he rarely spoke at its sessions. Patrice de MacMahon became the
first constitutionally-based President of the Third Republic, a post
which he held from 1875 to 1879. During the duc de Broglie's 2nd term of
office, as the Prime Minister of France from May 17, 1877 to November
23, 1877, Thiers was among the 363 deputies who voted for the no
confidence motion against de Broglie, that led to the fall of his
government. In the general elections that followed, Thiers played a
significant part in the electoral campaign as an ally of the
Republicans. However, in the midst of these electoral campaign on
September 3, 1877, he suffered a fatal stroke at St. Germain-en-Laye,
and passed away, and did not live to see the republicans back in control
of the House of Deputies. He was buried in Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise.
He was survived by his wife, Elise Dosne, who together with her sister
Mademoiselle Felicie Dosne, were his constant companions. He left no
children, and his only daughter long predeceased him. In spite of all
his shortcomings, Louis-Adolphe Thiers has gone down in the history of
France, as a great statesman who steered his country through the most
difficult period of a disastrous war with Germany, who spoke the
language of peace as opposed to the confrontational stand taken by most
of his contemporaries, and laid a solid foundation for the republican
form of government in France, that survives up to this day.
Madame Elise
Thiers nee Elise Dosne
Madame Elise Thiers was the wife of the great
statesman of France, Louis-Aolphe Thiers, whom she married at the age of
15 years. Elise Thiers was the daughter of Alexis Alexandre Dosne, a
rich financier from Lyon, and his wife Euridicie. Elise who was born in
1818 married the much older Thiers in 1833, when he was 36 years old. In
spite of the wide difference in their ages, the marriage turned out to
be a successful one, and Elise and her sister Felicie became his
constant companions, throughout the tumultuous years of his political
career, as well as during his brief periods of retirement from political
life when he reverted back to his literary pursuits. Elise stood by her
husband during the difficult periods of her husbands political career,
and encouraged him during moments of total despair. After her husbands
death in 1877, Elise collected and compiled her husbands speeches, which
were published in many volumes. Felicie Dosne, Elise's sister also
published a work on his brother-in-law Adolphe Thiers in 1901, known as
"Notes et Souvenirs, 1870-73."
1834 Portrait of Madame Thiers by Ingres
Madame Elise Thiers
bequeaths her husbands art collection and her pearl necklace to the
Louvre museum in 1880
Madame Elise Thiers died 3 years after her husbands
death in 1880. In her last will she bequeathed her husbands art
collection, and her valuable pearl necklace to the Louvre museum. It is
said that the art collection comprising 1470 separate items, was
ridiculed by the Goncourt brothers as a "frightful hotchpotch of
bourgeois art" and was accepted by the Louvre only reluctantly. Madame
Thiers' famous pearl necklace was put on display together with the
French crown jewels, in the Galerie d'Apollon. In 1887, when the French
crown jewels were dispersed on the orders of President Jules Grevy,
after the Chamber of Deputies decided to disperse all decadent symbols
of the French monarchy and the empire, the "Madam Thiers' Pearl
Necklace" was spared, probably because of its recent origin, or because
of its extraordinary value or because it was considered to have some
cultural and historic significance.
The Louvre decides to
dispose of the "Madame Thiers' Pearl Necklace" in 1922
The "Madame Thiers' Pearl Necklace" was on display in
the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre museum for 41 years until 1922. The
authorities then reassessed the status of the exhibit, and surprisingly
decided that it had neither "artistic character" nor "educational value"
and sought the permission of the Chamber of Deputies for its disposal. A
draft bill was passed in 1922, which allowed the museum to dispose of
the valuable jewel.
The sale of the
"Madame Thiers' Pearl Necklace" by the Louvre on June 16, 1924
The sale of the "Madame Thiers' Pearl Necklace"
finally took place on June 16, 1924, in the Salle Denon of the Louvre
Museum, in the presence of more than a thousand spectators. The necklace
consisted of three strands of pearls and a diamond studded clasp.
Initially, according to the format of the auction, each of the three
strands and the clasp were called out separately and knocked down to the
highest bidders. The longest strand containing 55 pearls fetched
Fr.5,030,000 and was knocked down to Oscar Kahn. The middle strand
containing 49 pearls, was purchased by L. Henry for Fr.3,220,000 and the
shortest strand containing 41 pearls was bought by Baron Lopez de
Tarragoya for Fr.2,680,000. The clasp was sold to one Paul Esmerian.
However, immediately after that the sale was annulled, and the auction
of the necklace was held again, this time the entire three-stranded
necklace and diamond clasp, as a single piece. It is not known whether
the previous bidders for individual strands, were able to take part in
the second bidding process. However, this time the necklace was knocked
down to an absentee bid for Fr. 11,286,000, equivalent to $700,000. It
later turned out that the successful bidder was actually Hemsy and
Lopez, who had been commissioned by Cartier to bid for the necklace.
The necklace was later exhibited by Cartier in Rue de la Paix, in Paris,
as well as its new headquarters in Fifth Avenue in New York, that was
purchased in 1917 for $100 in cash and a double-stranded natural pearl
necklace worth $1 million.
Cartier pays a tax of
$140,000 to take the Madame Thiers' Pearl Neklace to America.
Cartier had to pay an import duty of 20% on the value
of the pearl necklace, to take it to their headquarters in New York. 20%
of $700,000 works out to $140,000, which would have been the amount they
were called upon to pay when taking the necklace to America. Thus, the
value of the necklace, would have appreciated to $840,000 on its journey
from Paris to New York. Thus if the necklace was to be sold in America,
the prospective buyer would have to part with a cool million to take
possession of the necklace.
What were the
possible causes for the enormous increase in pearl values in the early
20th-century ?
In the year 1880, when Madame Thiers bequeathed her
pearl necklace to the Louvre Museum, its value was apprised at less than
$60,000. An appraisal in 1905 put its value at $100,000. However, at the
auction in 1924, the necklace was sold for $700,000. According to Dr.
George F. Kunz, the foremost authority on pearls in the early
20th-century, the reasons for the enormous increase in pearl values was
two fold. One was the change of fashion trends in the world, that made
pearls more popular than diamonds and colored stones. Pearls were said
to be more popular because they could be worn at all times of the day,
while diamonds and colored stones could only be worn at night. The
second was the vast increase in the wealth of the world during previous
thirty years, that saw a tenfold increase in demand for pearls. A third
factor that might have also played a part in increasing the demand for
natural pearls, was the scarcity of such pearls due to a drastic drop in
production; one of the traditional sources of pearls since ancient
times, the Gulf of Mannar, already abandoned, and the other most
important source the Persian Gulf, seeing a rapid decline in production,
and threatened with closure due to increase in production of cultured
pearls.
The fate of the
Madame Thiers' Pearl Necklace ?
The fate of the Madame Thier's Pearl Necklace after
it was brought by Cartier to New York, is not known. It appears the
necklace was sold to an anonymous buyer, and was subsequently dismantled
and incorporated into other pieces of jewelry.
You are welcome to discuss this
post/related topics with Dr Shihaan and other experts from around the
world in our
FORUMS (forums.internetstones.com)
Related :-
1)
Barbara Hutton/Marie Antoinette Pearl Necklace
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References :-
1) Cartier - by Hans Nadelhoffer, page 118
2) Famous Pearls and Collections - Thiers' Necklace,
Chapter 16, The Book of the Pearl - by G. F. Kunz
3) Adolphe Thiers - From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
4) Who Will Wear Thiers' Pearls ? Oakland
Tribune Magazine, September 28, 1924.
