Origin of name
The "Maximilian Emerald Ring" gets its name from its one time owner,
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, the archduke of Austria and the younger brother
of Emperor Francis Joseph (1848-1916), who was installed as the Emperor of
Mexico in 1864 by Napoleon III, whose forces captured Mexico City in 1863,
with a view of occupying Mexico and colonizing it. Initially the invasion of
Mexico was carried out by the French, British and Spain under the pretext of
safeguarding their investments, from a government controlled by Liberals,
who even suspended the payment of all foreign debts. But, later the British
and the Spanish withdrew their forces after learning of Napoleon's plan to
colonize the country. During this period the United States was in the midst
of a devastating civil war (1861 -1865). But, soon after the end of the
civil war in 1865, the U. S. demanded the withdrawal of the French troops
from Mexico, as it violated the Monroe Doctrine, and amassed troops at the
Mexican border. The French withdrew their forces, but Emperor Maximilian
decided to stay on supported by a group of staunch Conservatives.
Eventually, the Liberal forces headed by Benito Suarez captured Mexico City,
and Emperor Maximilian surrendered to the forces of Benito Suarez on May 15,
1867. Subsequently, Emperor Maximilian and two of his top-ranking generals,
were court martialled found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad,
on June 19, 1867.
Characteristics of the gemstone
The Maximilian Emerald is a 21.04-carat, emerald-cut, deep grass-green
stone, with good clarity and transparency, and like all natural emeralds
contains some inclusions.
© Smithsonian Institution
The emerald was set on a ring for Emperor Maximilian Joseph, but after his
death changed hands and eventually came into the possession of Marjorie
Merriweather Post, the cereal heiress, who got the ring reset
by Cartier incorporating diamonds and subsequently donated it to the National Museum of Natural
History of the Smithsonian Institution.
History of the Emerald
Source of the Emerald
The emerald belonged to Cuauhtemoc the last
king of the Aztecs
According to legend the Emperor Maximilian Emerald is believed to have
belonged to Cuauhtemoc, the last king of the Aztec Empire, with its capital
based at Tenochtitlan ( present day Mexico City), who was martyred trying to
defend his homeland from the Spanish in the 1525. Cuauhtemoc was captured by
the Spanish Conquistadors in 1521, while crossing lake Texcoco in disguise,
during the 80-day siege of Tenochtitlan, and tortured on the orders of
Hernan Cortes, to make him reveal the whereabouts of hidden treasures, which
he did not possess. Cuauhtemoc was executed by the Spaniards on charges of
treason in 1525. Today, Cuauhtemoc is one of the most revered figures in
Mexican History, considered as a symbol of bravery and courage against the
cruelty of the Spanish Conquistadors.
If the emerald did indeed belong to Cuauhtemoc, the last king of the Aztecs,
its source must be undoubtedly one of the three ancient emerald mines of
Colombia, Muzo, Coscuez and Chivor, the only source of emeralds in South
America during that period, and were mined and traded by the Chibchan and
Muzo Indians. Large quantities of these emeralds eventually found their way
to neighboring Peru and Mexico, where emeralds were considered as sacred
stones and the indigenous Indian tribes used them as ornaments, offered them
to their Gods in the temple, or buried them together with their dead. In
fact the Spanish Conquistadors saw emeralds for the first time in South
America, when they landed in Peru and Mexico, and attempts made by them to
located the source of these emeralds in Peru and Mexico, proved fruitless,
simply because there were no emerald mines in these countries. Thus the
Spaniards resorted to desecrating the temples and the graveyards of the
indigenous people stripping them of their emeralds and exporting large
quantities of these emeralds back to Spain. It was not until 1537, the
Spaniards came to know the actual source of the emeralds, when Gonzalo
Jimenez de Quesada captured Colombia, and on entering the valley of
Guacheta, the heart of the Chibcha domain, was warmly received by the
Chibcha Indian Chief, who also gifted him with nine large emeralds.
The emerald was purchased by Ferdinand
Maximilian Joseph during his trip to Brazil in 1860
Another possibility is that the emerald actually belonged to Emperor
Maximilian, like the "Emperor Maximilian Diamond" and the "Princess
Carlota Diamond" which was purchased by him in 1860, when he made a trip to
the Brazilian rain forests in pursuance of his Botanical studies, a subject
that had fascinated him since his childhood. It is quite possible that
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph also purchased the Maximilian emerald during his
trip to the Amazon rain forests of Brazil, and later got it cut and mounted
on a ring. It is well known that soon after the execution of the Emperor by
firing squad, it was discovered that he had been wearing the 41.94-carat
diamond in a small satchel tied around his neck. After his execution the
Emperor's body was returned to his family in Vienna, and the diamond given
to his widow Princess Carlota. If we accept this version as correct, the
source of the emerald is either the Muzo or Cosquez mines, as around the
period 1860 the Chivor mines were still lost and not rediscovered after its
closure in 1675, by royal decree issued by King Charles II, due to the cruel
and brutal conditions under which the mines were being exploited.
Let us now examine the characteristics of emeralds originating from Muzo,
Coscuez and Chivor mines.
Characteristics of emeralds originating from
Muzo
The emeralds are deep herbal-green in color.
They have good transparency.
The clarity is also good due to scarce presence of gardens and inclusions.
The specific gravity is 2.71 and the refractive index 1.578.
Contains three-phase inclusions and crystals of halite, calcite and parisite.
Characteristics of Coscuez emeralds
The emeralds have a typical yellowish-green color.
Good transparency and brightness.
Good clarity with diffused gardens and inclusions.
Characteristics of Chivor emeralds
The emeralds are typically bluish-green.
Some stone have excellent clarity and transparency.
Others contain inclusions, micro-fractures and cavities that are difficult
to hide.
Chivor emeralds have a slightly lower specific gravity and refractive index
than the Muzo emeralds. The specific gravity is 2.69 and the refractive
index 1.571.
Contain three-phase inclusions and also pyrite and albite.
Possible mine of origin of the Maximilian
emerald
Comparing the characteristics of the Maximilian emerald with the
characteristics listed above, and considering only the color, clarity and
transparency, it appears that the Maximilian emerald probably originated in
the Muzo emerald mines of Colombia. This could have been confirmed if the
specific gravity and the refractive index of the emerald was determined.
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph - A short
biography
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph who was the second son of Archduke Francis
Charles of Austria and his wife Sophia, was born on July 6th, 1832. His
elder brother Francis Joseph ascended the throne as Emperor of Austria in
1848 and ruled until 1916. Maximilian Joseph showed an inclination towards
the Natural Sciences, particularly towards the Science of Botany, at an
early age in life. In 1851, at a relatively young age of 19, he joined his
brother's armed forces as a lieutenant in the Austrian Navy, and eventually
became its Commander-in-Chief. Subsequently, he also served for a short time
as the governor of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. Later, he retired to a
private life, with his young bride, Princess Carlota, the daughter of King
Leopold I of Belgium. During his retirement he continued his studies in the
Natural Sciences, and undertook a trip to the tropical rain forests of the
Amazon basin in Brazil, in 1860, in pursuance of his studies in Botany. It
was during this trip he purchased two of the famous diamonds of Brazilian
origin, the 41.94-carat, near colorless "Emperor Maximilian Diamond" and the
33-carat greenish-yellow diamond the Carlota Diamond. It might also have
been possible that during this trip he also purchased the 21.04-carat
Maximilian emerald of Colombian origin, that reached the gem and jewelry
markets of Brazil. Maximilian Joseph made these purchases of diamonds and
emeralds, purely as a natural scientist interested in the marvels of nature,
and not to enhance his status as an aristocrat.
The turning point in his quiet way of life came, when in 1863,
Napoleon III exerted undue pressure on him to take over the throne of Mexico
as its Emperor, after the French forces captured and occupied Mexico City,
the capital of Mexico. Napoleon's main intention was to colonize Mexico and
he intended to use Maximilian Joseph to achieve his colonial ambitions. The
frustrated conservative Mexican exiles living in Europe, who had lost their
property and privileges under a liberal government, also pleaded with
Maximilian Joseph to become their Emperor, thinking that they would be able
to regain some of their lost privileges. The Roman Catholic hierarchy
including the Vatican, favored the installation of Maximilian Joseph as the
Emperor of Mexico, in order to regain the vast Church holdings confiscated
by Benito Juarezm, the Liberal leader. Unfortunately, young Maximilian
Joseph and his wife Princess Carlota, were not aware of the ulterior motives
of the French, the conservative politicians, and the Roman Catholic clergy.
Thus Maximilian Joseph became a willing pawn in an international power game
that finally led to serious consequences for him and his family.
Maximilian Joseph was installed as Emperor of Mexico on June 10, 1864. Being
a natural scientist and a great humanist, Maximilian Joseph, planned to rule
his domain with great benevolence, giving priority to the upliftment
and emancipation of the Indian peasants in the country. When Benito Juarez's
sweeping political and land reforms came up for review, Emperor Maximilian
upheld these reforms, much to the indignation of the clergy, the landed
proprietors and other vested interests. He refused to restore vast church
holdings confiscated by Juarez, and thereby antagonized the hierarchy of the
Roman Catholic Church. Thus, Emperor Maximilian Joseph, disappointed his
original sponsors, by refusing to accede to their unjust demands. His
honesty and integrity as a great leader was clearly demonstrated, when the
Emperor refused to make use of the state resources for the up keep of his
family and the palace. Instead he made use of his own inherited income for
this purpose. All these good deeds of Emperor Maximilian Joseph, go to prove
beyond any doubt, that he was indeed a benevolent ruler, whose
achievements were on par with Benito Juarez, the elected president of the
Mexican people.
During the tumultuous events of Mexico, neighboring United States was in the
midst of a devastating civil war, and as such the U. S. was not able to
influence the course of events in Mexico. However, after the civil war ended
in 1865, the U. S. demanded the immediate withdrawal of the French troops
from Mexico, as their presence contravened the Monroe Doctrine, and ordered
troop movements towards the Mexican border. In March 1867, the French forces
withdrew from Mexico, but unfortunately, Emperor Maximilian Joseph, refused
to leave with his masters who installed him. The Emperor had come to love
his people whom he served to the best of his abilities, and his
adopted country, and felt that he could not abandon his people. He was also
supported by some conservatives and the army. However, within a matter of
days, Benito Juarez and his army was back in Mexico City. Emperor Maximilian
refused to abdicate and was supported by a group of die hard conservatives.
Finally, on May 15, 1867, he surrendered to the forces of Benito Juarez.
Maximilian Joseph and two of his highest ranking generals were then court
martialled, found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad. Appeals for
clemency by international figures, political leaders and Heads-of-State went
unheeded, and on June 19, 1867, 35-year old Maximilian Joseph and his two
generals were executed by firing squad. The death of her beloved husband in
Mexico was something Princes Carlota could not bear up, and led to her
permanent mental derangement, which lasted until her death in 1927.
Marjorie Merriweather Post
The "Maximillian Emerald" eventually came into the possession of the cereal
heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post, America's first businesswoman and a
great collector and connoisseur of artworks, who got the emerald remounted in a ring
by Cartier, incorporating baguette diamonds.
Marjorie Merriweather Post was born on March 15, 1887, in Springfield,
Illinois, and was the only child of Charles William Post and his wife Ella
Leticia Merriweather. C. W. Post founded the Postum Cereal Company after his
invention of the coffee substitute Postum, Grape-Nuts, and Post Toasties
cereals, which expanded rapidly to become one of the largest
food-manufacturing empires in early twentieth century. Being his only child,
C. W. Post trained his daughter in all aspects of the company's workings,
preparing the groundwork for his daughter to takeover the rapidly expanding
family business at anytime in the future. Marjorie who also accompanied her
father on his business trips abroad, was exposed to the appreciation of art
and imbibed her father's interests as a connoisseur and collector of
artworks. The death of C. W. Post in 1914, thrust upon her the
responsibility of running the rapidly growing family business, a role which
she assumed with great ease given the training she received from her father
before his death. At a time when women in America were seldom more than
secretaries in a business world, dominated by men, Marjorie Merriweather Post became the first woman President of a company, going down
in history as one of America's first businesswomen.
Mrs. Post married four times. Her first marriage was in 1905, to investment
banker Edward Bennett Close, of Greenwich, Connecticut, by whom she had two
daughters. However, the marriage ended up in divorce in 1919. Her second
marriage was in 1920, to Wall Street financier Edward Francis Hutton. This
marriage was a perfect match, both being handsome, wealthy and similar
inclinations towards business. The business acumen of Hutton coupled with
the experience of Mrs. Post, led to a rapid expansion of the business.
Hutton became the Chairman of the Board of the Postum Cereal Company, which
diversified into the prepared and frozen food products with great success,
and the name of the company changed to the General Foods Corporation. Post
and Hutton were divorced in 1935, and had one child by their marriage.
Marjorie married her third husband Joseph E. Davies, a Washington lawyer in
1935, and accompanied him to the Soviet Union, where he served as the
American ambassador from 1937 to 1938, and was one of those who witnessed
Stalin's reign of terror first hand. It was also in the Soviet Union, that
Marjorie began acquiring Russian imperial art treasures which were sold with
the approval of the government of the Soviet Union. Among the items of
Russian art acquired by her, included Russian icons, textiles, porcelains,
silver and Faberge art objects. Her collection of Russian art, today is the
most important collection of Russian imperial art outside Russia, and is
displayed at the Hillwood Museum, her former residence in Washington D.C.
Marjorie's marriage to Davies also came to an end in 1955. Her fourth
marriage occurred in 1958 to Herbert A. May, a wealthy Pittsburg
businessman, a marriage that lasted only until 1964.
Besides being a successful businesswoman, Marjorie was also a well known art
collector, a philanthropist and socialite. As pointed out earlier she
inherited her passion for the arts from her father C. W. Post, but her
collection began to expand significantly only after she moved to New
York in the early 20th century. While at New York she came under the
influence of the wealthy collectors of the New York high society. To learn
more about art she enrolled in classes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and
came under the influence of the renowned art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen, who
instilled a life long passion for the arts in Marjorie.
During the 1920s she acquired decorative art objects for her New York home,
and French furnishings for her grand apartment in New York, her estate
Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Camp Hutridge in the Adirondacks and her
yacht Sea Cloud. She also acquired fine Sevres porcelain and 18th century
French gold boxes. She put together her Russian collection of art during her
third husbands assignment as American ambassador in 1937-38. She continued
collecting throughout her life, and in 1958 hired Marvin Ross, a Harvard
trained art historian to catalogue and organize her collections and
implement standard museum practices at Hillwood. In 1973, after her death,
Hillwood, her last estate in Washington D. C. was bequeathed to the public
as a museum, where her magnificent French and Russian collections are on
display. This was her final and most important philanthropic gesture.
Marjorie Merriweather Post involved herself in lot of charitable activities
during the great depression of the 1930s, and supported many philanthropic
causes throughout her life. She supported the Salvation Army, the American
Red Cross, and during World War I donated funds for the construction of
field hospitals in France, a gesture that was recognized by the French
Government, who awarded her the Legion of Honor. In 1971, she was the
recipient of the Silver Fawn Award presented by the Boy Scouts of America.
Marjorie Merriweather Post donates her
jewelry to the NMNH of the Smithsonian Institution.
Marjorie Merriweather Post donated some of her jewelry of historical value
to the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in
the 1960s, where these are exhibited today at the Janet Annenberg Hooker
Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals. The famous pieces of jewelry donated by
her include the following :-
1) A pair of 20-carat diamond earrings belonging to Marie Antoinette
2) 275 carat diamond and turquoise necklace and tiara given by Napoleon I to
his wife Empress Marie Louise.
3) The 30.82-carat "Blue Heart" diamond ring, containing the "Blue Heart"
diamond of South African origin.
4) Emerald and diamond necklace and ring belonging to the Mexican Emperor
Maximilian Joseph.
The Maximilian Emerald Ring is exhibited in
the Museo Alameda, San Antonio, Texas.
The Museo Alameda del Smithsonian nicknamed the MAS by the Latinos, meaning
"more" in Spanish, was opened on April 13, 2007, in San Antonio's Market
Square, as part of the Alameda National Center for Latino Arts and Culture.
The museum that has drawn national attention for its striking architecture,
cost approximately $15 million, and with an exhibition space of 20,000 sq.
ft. and 11 galleries, is the largest Latino museum in the United States, and
became the first official affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, in
Washington D. C. According to Henry R. Munoz III, the founding chairman of
the Alameda National Center for Latino Arts and Culture, the non-profit
organization behind the construction of the museum, the MAS is the first
museum in the country that tells the story of the Latino experience in
America, as seen through the eyes of the Latino. The funds for the project
were raised through corporate contributions, the biggest contribution of
$5.5 million coming from the Ford Motor Company, followed by $3 million from
AT&T and $1 million from Anheuser-Busch Company.
According to the affiliation agreement signed between the Smithsonian and
Museo Alameda, the Smithsonian has agreed to loan treasures pertaining to
Latino culture as well as other exhibits, from its vast Washington holdings,
to be exhibited in a special gallery of the museum reserved for this
purpose, for agreed periods of time. For the inaugural exhibition the
Smithsonian lent around 50 exhibits, which included the 21.04-carat
"Maximilian Emerald Ring" that was once owned by Emperor Ferdinand
Maximilian Joseph, who was placed on the Mexican throne in 1864, but
executed three years later in 1867. Other items loaned by the Smithsonian
Institution included, a 1958 pioneer space satellite known as the
Vanguard, whose size was equivalent to that of a basket ball and belonging
to NASA, Incan vessels from Peru, Paloma Picasso Jewelry, and Luis Jimenez's
sculpture "Man of Fire," and photographs of conjunto greats by John
Dyer. The Smithsonian gallery will change several times in a year as old
exhibits are returned and new ones are brought in. The aim of the Alameda
National Center for Latino Arts and Culture is to make the Museo Alameda a
national destination, not only for Latino art and culture but also as a
teaching museum of world class Latino scholarship, in association with the
Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in
Washington D.C.
Related :-
1) Blue Heart Diamond
2) Emperor Maximilian Diamond
3) Chalk Emerald Ring
4)
Patricia Emerald
5)
The Moghul Emerald
6)
The Duke of Devonshire Emerald
7)
The Gachala Emerald
8) The Hooker Emerald
8)
Guiness Emerald Crystal
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References
1.The National Gem Collection - Jeffrey Post
2.Lets
Talk Gemstones- Edna B. Anthony, The New Mexico Facetor
3.Emperor
Maximilian Diamond - Internet Stones.Com
4.Plan a Memorable and
Culturally Aware Vacation - Hispanic PR Wire.
5.Museum Honors Hispanic Culture - New York Times - Apri 14, 2007.
6.Marjorie
Merriweather Post - Hillwood Museum website.
7.GEO347K GEM NOTES - Beryl,
Department of Geology, University of Texas, Austin.
