$11,163
Antique Seed Pearl Necklace and Brooch, composed of seed pearls set in concentric circles within crimped gold mountings with closed backs, in a fitted Tiffany box. Note: Accompanied by a letter from Tiffany & Co. dated 9/27/72. The letter states that Tiffany's President, Farnham Lefferts, believed this suite to be the one sold to President Lincoln as a gift for Mary Todd Lincoln, who wore it to the 1861 inauguration. As a result, the suite traveled to California for a 1975 Tiffany exhibition of historic American jewelry. It was later discovered that Lincoln's descendants had bequeathed the true inaugural suite, almost identical to the one offered here, to the Library of Congress. The provenance of this suite and the letter from Tiffany are discussed in The Tiffany Touch, by Joseph Purtell, p. 207. For a photograph of the inaugural necklace in the Library of Congress collection and a discussion of contemporary copies of the suite by the prominent Washington jeweler M.W. Galt & Brothers, see Jewelry in America, by Martha Gandy Fales, p. 211.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2001-12-11
