Parure
Collingwood Ltd
Category
Jewellery
Date
c. 1870
Materials
Gold, onyx, agate.
Place of origin
London
Collection
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
NT 288774
Summary
An Egyptian Revival gold parure, c.1870, comprising a necklace, bracelet, brooch and pair of small gold brooches. The beads are probably ancient Egyptian, whilst the carved hard stone stylised masks of Pharaohs date from the 19th century. An accompanying note in the hand of Vauncey Harpur Crewe (1846-1924) records that the parure was made to the design of his mother, Georgiana, Lady Crewe (1824-1910). The complete Parure lodged in the original case fitted by Collingwood & Son, 46 Conduit Street, London. Accompanied by a handwritten note stating 'This necklace made of Egyptian agates found by me in Nubia on the banks of the Nile 1869. V.H.Crewe (Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe, 10th Bt., 1846-1924). My mother's own design and other things in this case given to me by her.
Full description
The note written by Vauncey Harpur Crewe records that he personally collected the agates. In 1869-70, Vauncey travelled through Egypt and Sudan accompanied by Dr. C.J. Workman, who recorded their activities in his journal. Workman’s entry on 25 January 1870 may describe the agates being collected for these sets. He recorded that 'Mr Crewe went for a walk on shore with his gun before breakfast and found a place in the desert where there seemed to be a lot of Agates so instead of starting in the morning as we had intended we spent the time before luncheon in searching for the Agates and were so successful that we went again till dinner time and so picked up a good many promising specimens.' (Derbyshire Record Office, D2375/F/L/1/4/3).
Provenance
Calke Abbey and contents transferred to the National Trust by the Treasury in lieu of CTT in 1985 with an endowment provided by the NHMF.
Makers and roles
Collingwood Ltd, jeweller