Today marks the 80th Anniversary of the Death of Madeleine Marie Isabelle de Noailles, Princess of Poix, who passed away on this day in 1944! The only daughter of the Viscount and Viscountess de Courval who married into the illustrious House of Noailles, her magnificent Pearl and Diamond Tiara failed to sell at auction in 2015 despite an estimate of millions!

The striking Pearl and Diamond Tiara is composed of a line of star motifs set with rose diamonds, surmounted with eleven slightly baroque drop shaped natural pearls, each natural pearl supported by a rose diamond mount and by a cushion-shaped diamond.

The Tiara was a wedding gift to American Heiress Mary Ray when she married Arthur Dubois, Viscount de Courval in 1856.

The Viscountess de Courval was a lady of exquisite taste. She was born into an important and wealthy family in New York. Brought up in France where her parents had settled, Mary Ray was a perfect match for a French aristocrat. In 1856, she married the Viscount de Courval in New York. A lover of the arts, the Viscountess looked for fine and delicate objects and works of art in Paris auctions to furnish and embellish her hôtel particulier at 6 rue Paul Baudry, near the Champs Elysées.

The Viscountess notably wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara when she dressed as Marie de Médici for a Ball in 1883, being painted in the costume by Gustave Jacquet.

A painting by Gustave Jacquet (1846-1909) dated 1883, portrays Mary Ray, Viscountess de Courval, wearing the tiara together with a Worth dress inspired by the 18th century ‘robe à crinoline‘ and by the high lace collar of the 16th century, worn by Marie de Médicis, Queen of France. This dress was created for a ball hosted by Madame de Courval on 24 May 1883.

In the portrait, the Viscountess wears it together with several necklaces, a devant-de-corsage, hair ornaments, bracelets and rings. This painting is a true testimony of fin de siècle opulence when, after the fall of the Second Empire and under a still young Third Republic, France was divided between monarchists and republicans, but the elites met at a succession of sumptuous receptions.

The Pearl and Diamond Tiara was inherited by the Viscountess de Courval’s only daughter, Madeleine, who had married François de Noailles, Prince de Poix, and in 1950, the Tiara was worn by her granddaughter, Laure de Noailles, Madame Bertrand de la Haye Jousselin, for a Ball at the Chateau de Groussay, where she was pictured alongside Princess Armand d’Arenberg and Princess Marie de Ligne la Trémoïlle.

Laure de Noailles also wore the Pearl and Diamond Tiara for a Mardi Gras Costume Ball hosted by her mother, the society hostess Vicomtesse de Noailles, at their fabled Hôtel Particulier, 11 Place des États-Unis in Paris.

The Pearl and Diamond Tiara remained in the family until it appeared at Auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva in 2015, with an estimate of 1,950,000 – 3,890,000 CHF. However, despite the high estimate, the Tiara seems to have failed to sell, and may still remain the property of the House of Noailles.

‘The described eleven pearls of remarkable size are set in this tiara together with a fine selection of diamonds in a beautiful historic design. The pearls have been carefully selected and show a matching slightly baroque drop to drop shape and a fine pearl lustre… Assembling a matching selection of natural pearls of this size and quality is very rare and exceptional’.

This exquisite, rare and impressive natural pearl and diamond tiara is a superb combination of the most flattering and imposing form of jewellery with the use of this exceptional, fascinating and mysterious material, natural pearl.

Sotheby’s | RJWMB

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