The bizarre jewels of Patricia Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s cousin, are up for auction

It seems that in the early 1900s, among the ladies of the beautiful world it was very fashionable to wear gold handbags with the features of animals. Large just to contain the powder for the nose, they were worn on the wrist as if they were a bracelet. The shoulder bag in the shape of pig it is certainly the most bizarre piece among the objects that belonged to the countess Patricia Mountbatten than on March 24th will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in London.
To fans of real affairs (and fans of The Crown) the maiden name of the English aristocrat who died in 2017 at 93 years old will sound familiar: it is in fact the daughter of Louis Mountbatten, uncle of Prince Philip and distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth, that zio Dickie mentor of Carlo whose name is handed down within the royal family from the third son of Kate and William.

Mother Edwina Ashley was considered one of the most beautiful women in England and was also very rich as well as descendant of Pocahontas: traces of that combination between taste and money can be found among the jewels that will soon be sold by the heirs to respect the wishes of their relative.

It is in fact an ancient and fascinating story that the relics contained in the casket of Lady Patricia they tell. And it could not be otherwise given not only the illustrious and well-to-do births but also the marriage that added a touch of blue in that blood already tied by the father to the Queen Victoria and tolast Tsarina of Russia, Alessandra. The young Mountbatten who spent the weekends with Wallis Simpson and Edoardo VIII, his godfather, and who subsequently spent the war years in New York in the luxurious apartment on Fifth Avenue Grace Vanderbilt, once back in the UK she joined the Royal Navy where he found love. In 1946 he married John Knatchbull and had Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret as bridesmaids. As for aristocracy he was no less: seventh baron of Brabourne by lineage, successful film producer by vocation with two Oscar nominations with films Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli e Passage to India.

These are the noble and worldly roots on which necklaces, brooches, earrings, bracelets, antiques sink as well as the evening pig with its tail, back and paws studded with diamonds and eyes injected with rubies that will be auctioned. in a few weeks. A collection that we have the opportunity to see for the first time – albeit in photography – on the occasion of the Sotheby’s auction.

“Pull a beautiful 40’s jewelry box out of the safe Asprey, probably a gift from Lord Mountbatten to his daughter, opening it and seeing what it contained was truly incredible, “she tells British Vogue David Macdonald, senior director of the London auction house. For those who do this job, having access to all this goodness will have given much more than a thrill of pleasure especially because many pieces are truly legendary. “Patricia Mountbatten’s mother was known for wearing fantastic jewelry,” says Macdonald in another interview. “Edwina was someone who always traveled with her jewelry box in case she had to attend some important state occasion.”

Style Art Deco meets the oriental one in the set Tutti Frutti, a triumph of emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds. At the auction we find a necklace designed as a wreath, a couple of clips and a jabot brooch in which a bird alights on a precious tree of colored gems that belonged to Edwina. It was Cartier to bring to the fore this type of jewelry inspired by Indian design that has become the object of desire of collectors. If we know little about this set that is out in the open today, the history of what has gone down in history as the is known Mountbatten Tutti Frutti Bandeau. Much lighter and more versatile than a tiara, this headband was bought by Edwina from Cartier in 1928.

After Lady Mountbatten’s death in 1960, the chaplet was sold and passed through some hand whose name is unknown. What we do know, however, is that in 2004 the British government banned the piece from crossing national borders: what makes the object precious, in addition to the carats, is the fact that it was made for Cartier in London by English ArtWorks. The maison used the services of this sort of branch in which exclusively British artisans worked in a very tiring moment from an economic point of view. In this way, the UK economy turned around: those who could spend felt less guilty for a purchase that favored a British brand. The set that will be auctioned does not appear to have the explicit signature of Cartier but it is reasonable to assume that it is somehow connected to the band – now loaned to V&A Museum – because of its manufacture.

Edwina’s wrist was also surrounded by the emerald and diamond bracelet made in 1929 by Hennel, one of the British Art Deco jewelers in vogue at the time, and Louis’s gift to his bride, a row of colored gems and diamonds. Patricia and her father were very close. At the auction there are also several creations that Lord Mountbatten had made especially for his eldest daughter as the monogram who combined her daughter’s name with that of her future husband e the diamond brooch with a design that recalls the waves of the sea. Among these gifts, there is also the bracelet with the enameled insignia of Girl Guide thought for his 21st birthday. Lady Patricia and the then Princess Elizabeth belonged to the same group born within Buckingham Palace in 1937 to allow the future queen to become a “scout”.

Under family jewels on the Knatchbull side we include the 18th century brooch purchased by Sarah Sophia Banks, sister of the scientist Joseph as well as chosen to accompany the explorer James Cook on his journey to Oceania between 1768 and 1771. It was a wedding gift intended for Banks ‘wife, Dorothea: on the back, the brothers’ initials and an encapsulated lock of hair of the sister-in-law are intertwined.

Thanks to the auction we enter the intimacy of Queen Victoria, great-aunt of Lord Mountbatten. There is the bracelet dated 1842 in enameled gold and diamonds which houses a miniature of the Prince Albert. It seems that it was the custom of the royal couple to exchange gifts with their painted images. Alongside this tender heirloom, we also have a small review of mourning jewelry of the sovereign who gave her name to an era. A tradition, that of wearing a commemorative necklace, dating back to the sixteenth but which in Vittoria takes on a particular value since her long life was marked by the pain of losing her loved ones. From the death of her husband until his passing forty years after that of her husband in 1901, she dressed every day in black covered with tangible memories of her family, some of which were auctioned. There is the agate pendant with a diamond with the image of Vittoria’s mother donated by Alberto and the jewels in memory of her daughter Alice, who died of diphtheria in 1878.

For many it may be difficult to separate from these rich historical and emotional assets. Not only the family members of the same opinion Patricia Mountbatten Knatchbull. «Our mother thought it would be nice to share these beloved objects with other people» declare the children of this woman who has crossed the last century in a way that is anything but carefree. In theIRA attack in August 1979 who killed her father on a fishing trip, as well as her mother-in-law Lady Doreen and a very young crew member, Patricia lost her 14-year-old son Nicholas.
Even she did not come out unscathed from the explosion: she called theIRA lifting the 120 stitches needed to mend the wounds on her face and eyes but she preferred to speak little of the event, dedicating her life to helping other parents who, like her, had experienced the loss of a child. «Although many of these objects seem private, letting them go makes us feel good» they add «we have had the privilege of enjoying them: now they can have a life elsewhere».