eon III, is to return to France, more than 100 years after it was sold by the government, the Louvre Museum said Tuesday. The historic jewel made in 1855 by Parisian jeweler Francois Kramer was purchased from Christie’s in New York for 6.72 million euros (US$10.8 million) on April 18, a museum statement said.
The Louvre was able to make the purchase with a five-million-euro private donation and other museum funds.
Most of the French crown jewels were sold off at auction in 1887, with the empress’ bow brooch sold to jeweler Emile Schlesinger who acquired it for Caroline Astor, a prominent American socialite.
The broach purchased for 42,400 French francs or 85,000 euros at the time remained in the Astor family for over 100 years, according to Christie’s.
The diamond bow had been originally intended to be worn as a buckle for a belt, but Eugenie asked one of her jewelers to transform it into a stomacher, a decoration pinned to the chest.
Two diamond tassles and five diamond pendants were added to the brooch in 1864 and it later became one of the empress’ favorite pieces of jewelry.
The crowns, jewels and other symbols of French royalty were seized during the French Revolution and sold in 1887, with the exception of a few historic pieces.
The Louvre Museum has over the past years acquired some of the crown jewels that remain intact and which are on display in the museum’s Apollo gallery, where Eugenie’s brooch will soon be exhibited.
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