WATCH: Unique diamond tiara going on display for first time at V&A Dundee
The diamond-winged tiara was commissioned by the Duchess of Roxburghe.
Last updated 13th Dec 2017
A diamond-winged tiara, commissioned by the late Mary Crewe-Milnes, Duchess of Roxburghe, will go on display for the first time at V&A Dundee when the museum opens next year.
The 2, 500 diamond encrusted piece was inspired by the winged helmets worn by the heroines of Wagner’s opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen
The tiara is the last of its type ever made by Cartier. Known as a Valkyrie tiara after the eponymous figures from Norse mythology, comprises more than 2,500 cushion-shaped, single-cut, circular-cut and rose-cut diamonds, set in a gold and silver frame.
Joanna Norman, Lead Curator of the Scottish Design Galleries and Acting Head of Research at the V&A, said: “This tiara is a stunning example of design being directly influenced by the person who commissioned it.
“In 1935 the Duchess of Roxburghe had just married into a Scottish dynasty. When she asked Cartier to make one last Valkyrie tiara she was commissioning a piece of exquisite craftsmanship and unexpected design, inspired by the fashions of her childhood.
“The tiara is an amazing piece which trembles when worn to give a sense of moving feathers. Designed to allow the Duchess to remove the wings and wear them as brooches if she so desired, the attention to detail is spectacular.”
The headpiece was commissioned in 1935, the year of the Duchess’s marriage to the 9th Duke of Roxburghe, when the couple lived in Floors Castle, near Kelso. It comes in a unique cream leather bespoke Cartier case with her initials tooled in gilt lettering in a Celtic font.
The fashion for Valkyrie tiaras originated on the stage before being rapidly adopted by fashionable aristocrats at the start of the 20th century.
The pair of ‘en tremblant’ wings was constructed using wire-coiled springs so that they move slightly when worn. The wings can also be detached and worn separately.
The tiara, which is from a Scottish collection, will be shown in V&A Dundee’s Scottish Design Galleries when the new museum opens in the second half of 2018. It will be the first time it has gone on public display.