Marie-Étienne Nitot | |
|---|---|
 Marie-Étienne Nitot | |
| Born | April 2, 1750 |
| Died | September 9, 1809 (aged 59) |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | Official jeweller to the Emperor Napoleon Founder of the House of Chaumet |
Marie-Étienne Nitot (2 April 1750 in Paris – 9 September 1809) was a French jeweller, the official jeweller to the Emperor Napoleon, and the founder of the House of Chaumet. [1]
Nitot's family was from Château-Thierry, he himself was born in Paris on 2 April 1750. After being an apprentice to Aubert, court jeweller to Queen Marie-Antoinette, he moved to Paris in 1780. [2]
He survived the French Revolution and, in 1802, was appointed jeweller to Emperor Napoleon. With the help of his son François Regnault (1779–1853), Nitot created jewellery symbolizing the power that Napoleon wished to convey. [3] These include the wedding jewels of Josephine de Beauharnais and Marie Louise of Austria. Nitot also designed Napoleon's coronation crown, his ceremonial sword and many other court ornaments.
Marie-Étienne Nitot also played an active role with his son into re-assembling the Crown Treasury (Trésor de la Couronne) dismantled and spread apart during and after the French revolution, and were exclusive providers of precious stones to Napoleon.[ citation needed ]
Marie-Étienne Nitot died in 1809. Napoleon appointed his son François Regnault Nitot to succeed him. François Regnault Nitot operated until the fall of the empire in 1815. [4] Nitot then sold his business to his foreman, Jean-Baptiste Fossin (1786-1848).
As official jeweller to Napoleon, Nitot made a number of significant pieces. He designed the Napoleon Tiara and the Imperial Sword. The tiara designed for Pope Pius VII was presented to the Pope during Napoleon's coronation in 1804. [5] He also designed the Cameo Tiara for Joséphine before 1810, but no portraits of Joséphine wearing the Cameo exists (only one portrait of her daughter Hortense wearing the Cameo and dating from 1812 exists).[ citation needed ] Marie-Étienne Nitot actually designed Joséphine's entire Emerald Parure that belongs today to the Royal family of Norway.[ citation needed ]
The Leuchtenberg sapphire parure, now part of the Swedish royal family jewel foundation, is attributed to Nitot. The sapphires are thought to have been a wedding gift from Napoleon to his step-daughter Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg and then passed to the Swedish royal family with Queen Josephine.[ citation needed ]
In addition to these creations, Nitot crafted the Napoleon Diamond Necklace around 1811–1812 to celebrate the birth of Napoleon II. The necklace, featuring 234 diamonds totaling approximately 263 carats, was gifted to Empress Marie-Louise and is now housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. [6]
Nitot also designed the Marie Louise Diadem in 1810 as part of a parure that included a necklace, earrings, a comb, and a belt buckle, all set with emeralds and diamonds in silver and gold. The diadem contained 79 Colombian emeralds and 1,006 diamonds. While the necklace and earrings are now in the Louvre, the diadem, with its emeralds replaced by Persian turquoise in the 1950s, is housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. [7]
Joséphine Bonaparte was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I and as such Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 January 1810. As Napoleon's consort, she was also Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805 until the 1810 annulment. She is widely known as Joséphine de Beauharnais.
A tiara is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greco-Roman world. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women at formal occasions. The basic shape of the modern tiara is a semi-circle, usually made of silver, gold or platinum and richly decorated with precious stones, pearls or cameos.
The French Crown Jewels and Regalia comprise the crowns, orb, sceptres, diadems and jewels that were symbols of Royal or Imperial power between 752 and 1870. These were worn by many Kings and Queens of France as well as Emperor Napoleon. The set was finally broken up, with most of it sold off in 1885 by the Third Republic. The surviving French Crown Jewels, principally a set of historic crowns, diadems and parures, are mainly on display in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre, France's premier museum and former royal palace, together with the Regent Diamond, the Sancy Diamond and the 105-carat (21.0 g) Côte-de-Bretagne red spinel, carved into the form of a dragon. In addition, some gemstones and jewels are on display in the Treasury vault of the Mineralogy gallery in the National Museum of Natural History.
A parure is a set of various items of matching jewelry, which rose to popularity in early 19th-century Europe.
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchange for 3,800 carats of small diamonds.
The Napoleon Tiara was a papal tiara given to Pope Pius VII in June 1805 a few months after he presided at the coronation of Napoleon I. While lavishly decorated with jewels, it was deliberately too small and heavy to be worn and meant as an insult to the Pope. In the painting of The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David, the tiara is held behind the Pope by one of his aides.
Chaumet is a French luxury jewellery and watch house based in Paris.
The House of Beauharnais is a French noble family. It is now headed by the Duke of Leuchtenberg, descendant in male line of Eugène de Beauharnais.
Events from the year 1810 in France.
Elizabeth II owned a historic collection of jewels – some as monarch and others as a private individual. They are separate from the gems and jewels of the Royal Collection, and from the coronation and state regalia that make up the Crown Jewels.
The Maharaja of Indore Necklace is a diamond and emerald-studded necklace. As of 2008, it is on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., United States. It was originally named the Spanish Inquisition Necklace by the American jeweller Harry Winston, though it had no known connection with the historical Spanish Inquisition. The name was changed in 2021 by the Smithsonian Institution to reflect its actual provenance, having been first owned by Tukoji Rao III, Maharaja of Indore in the early 20th century.
The Napoleon Diamond Necklace is a diamond necklace commissioned by Napoleon I of France c. 1811–1812 from the Parisian jeweler Marie-Étienne Nitot. It is now in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
A pendeloque cut is a pear-shaped modification of the round brilliant cut used for diamonds and other gemstones. The pendeloque cut is sometimes erroneously called briolette cut, another drop-shaped cutting design. While the briolette is a symmetrical drop shape, the pendeloque cut is flatter and has two different sides: one with a large table facet and one with a point or ridge. The top of a briolette is attached to the piece of jewelry, usually by a hole drilled in the stone, and a pendeloque cut stone needs to be mounted in a prong setting. The pendeloque is one of the drop cuts for gemstones.
Jean-Baptiste Fossin (1786–1848) was a French silver and goldsmith and jeweler.
Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette was a French goldsmith best known for the production of ornate gold boxes and the use of unusual and natural materials like tortoiseshell.
Mellerio dits Meller is a French jewellery house, founded in 1613, and still active today. It is the oldest family company in Europe. It gives its name to the Mellerio cut, a 57-facet jewel cut, shaped as an oval within an ellipse. Today Mellerio is based in rue de la Paix, Paris, with branches in Luxembourg and Japan. It is a member of the Comité Colbert and also of the Henokiens, an international club made up of family companies over 200 years old. Directors François and Olivier Mellerio are the fourteenth generation to run the family business.
Diana, Princess of Wales, owned a collection of jewels both as a member of the British royal family and as a private individual. These were separate from the coronation and state regalia of the crown jewels. Most of her jewels were either presents from foreign royalty, on loan from Queen Elizabeth II, wedding presents, purchased by Diana herself, or heirlooms belonging to the Spencer family.
Oscar Massin (1829–1913) was a Belgian-born French jeweler known as “The Diamond Reformer," who created some of the 19th century's most influential and innovative fine jewelry that radically redefined a new era for the industry at large. While Massin remains one of the least-known Parisian jewelers, he produced some of the most significant works of his time, many for European royalty. Massin is celebrated for his patented diamond lacework technique, which uses filigree to create the illusion of woven metal. Massin is also credited with creating the first “illusory” setting, designed to emphasize the size of the diamond by minimizing the metal around it.
The Marie Louise Diadem is a diamond and turquoise diadem on permanent display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.. It is named for Marie Louise of Austria, the wife of Emperor Napoleon of France.
The joyas de pasar are a historic collection of jewels, privately owned by the head of the Spanish royal family, to be worn by the Queen of Spain on solemn occasions. The initial jewellery set was gathered by Queen Victoria Eugenie, wife of King Alfonso XIII, and are transmitted to the next generation following the instructions that she left in her will. They are separate from the Regalia of Spain which is owned by the Spanish State.
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