Yesterday marked the 85th Anniversary of the Death of Alice, Lady Lowther, who has passed away on that day in 1939! The American heiress who married a British Diplomat and was a great charitable figure, Lady Lowther possessed this magnificent Chaumet Pearl and Diamond Tiara!
But first, let’s learn about Lady Lowther! The daughter of millionaire Atherton Blight of Philadelphia and Nina Greenough of Boston, Alice Blight was born in Paris in 1873 and lived in New York and Newport, while often visiting Philadelphia where she had many relatives and friends. In 1905, she married Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther, son of the Honourable William Lowther and Charlotte Alice Parke, while he was serving as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C and in 1907, she was presented at Court by the Countess of Crewe. The couple had three daughters: the elder of whom married first Baron Jacques Thénard and then Roger Levêque de Vilmorin, a natural son of King Alfonso XIII of Spain, while the middle daughter became the mother of the 22nd Baron Clinton, though sadly both daughters were widowed when their husbands were killed in action in 1940. During her husband’s posting as Ambassador to Constantinople from 1908-13, Lady Lowther founded the Turkish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was Chairman of ‘Lady Lowther’s War Relief Fund in Constantinople’ which assisted over 25,000 refugees from Thrace during the Balkan Wars; and in London during the First World War she chaired the Fund for the Relief of Belgian Prisoners in Germany and was the secretary of the American Women’s War Relief Fund. For her work she was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of Shefakat and the Médaille de la Reine Elisabeth. Lady Lowther published two books, Land of the Gold Mohur (1932) and Moments in Portugal, or Land of the Laurel (1939). After her husband’s death in 1916, Lady Lowther continued to live at 44 Belgrave Square in London, passing away in Bournemouth in 1939.
The striking Chaumet Pearl and Diamond Tiara is composed of foliate scroll work. The Tiara was a Wedding Gift from Mrs William Payne Thompson to her sister, Alice Blight, when she married Diplomat Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther in 1905.
Lady Lowther was first photographed wearing her Chaumet Pearl and Diamond Tiara for a portrait taken in 1913, when her husband, Sir Gerard, served as the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople.
A couple of years later, the Chaumet Tiara was immortalised when Lady Lowther was painted by the famed Philip de László in 1921, but she joked she may have to sell her jewels to pay his fee when she wrote to him:
Could you see me on Monday at 11.30 and we could decide what colour scheme you would like? I thought of a very dark background and a strip of black velvet & my turkish order – I should like diamonds in my hair & will show you both ways of “doing it up” – to see which you prefer – as it is the pendant to Sir Gerard’s I wish to be en Grande Toilette – I am greatly looking forward to the privilege of sitting to you.
I fear the sad & heavy years since we have not met have made a far from rejuvenating impress on my face – but that cannot be helped.” She also joked that she would need to sell some of her jewels to pay for the portrait. The foliate scroll work tiara she wears is by Chaumet but she did not part with it to pay de László’s honorarium of £315, the equivalent of nearly £10,000 in 2020.
The fate of Lady Lowther’s Chaumet Tiara is ultimately unknown, and if it survived to be inherited by her two daughters, their tribulations during the Second World War may have led to it being sold off ages ago. However, there is a ‘maillechort’ or a volume model of the Tiara in nickel silver which remains in the Chaumet Archives.
Royal Magazin | László Catalogue
Lady Chaumet Pearl and Diamond Tiara
Devonshire Diamond Palmette Tiara
Duchess of Devonshire’s Tiaras
Devonshire Diamond Rivière
Devonshire Parure
Ruby Clasp
Craven Brooch
Insect Brooches
Devonshire Tiara
Devonshire Diamond Rivière
Ruby Clasp
Wellington Tiara
Diamond Earrings
Diamond Tassel Earrings
Bagration Spinel Tiara
Rosebery Tiara
Diamond Necklace
Westminster Myrtle Wreath Tiara
Diamond Fringe Tiara
Duchess of Buccleuch’s Tiaras
Northumberland Tiara
Duchess of Sutherland’s Tiara
Duchess of Bedford’s Tiaras
Marlborough Tiara
Portland Tiara
Duchess of Norfolk’s Sapphire Necklace
Rutland Tiara
Argyll Tiara
Manchester Tiara
Dufferin Tiara
Bath Tiara
Milford Haven Ruby Kokoshnik
Duchess of Devonshire’s Tiaras
Devonshire Parure
Ruby Clasp
Craven Brooch
Insect Brooches
