Merely the very best "accessories" - Alice, Viscountess Wimborne and her jewelry at auction, Christie’s, 2025

 

The Wimborne family owned a truly impressive collection of jewels, many of which remained in the family's collection into the current century. A number of them, though, - those pictured here, along with a few other pieces - were auctioned by Christie’s, London in November of this year.

Pendant, with carved and calibré set emeralds, diamonds, and pearls, circa 1925.

Lady Wimborne posed in the ballroom of Wimborne House, a Cecil Beaton portrait from the 1930s.

In addition to other jewels, Lady Wimborne is wearing the original, longer version of the diamond sautoir and the emerald and diamond pendant.

Paired here as originally worn, the pendant and the sautoir were auctioned separately.

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Pendant with ruby and calibré set rubies, purple/pink sapphire, and diamonds, circa 1925.

This 1928 portrait of Lady Wimborne by Beaton was published in the Tatler and dubbed "The Shingled Vicereine" because of the her stylish "shingled" hairstyle.

Dressed in a gown by Poiret, she wears the ruby/sapphire and diamond pendant suspended from the diamond sautoir, seen again in its original, longer form.

Her ruby and diamond bandeau-style tiara by Chaumet, seen here, was sold at Christie's in 1971.

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Cartier emerald and diamond bracelet, circa 1925.

Another Beaton portrait of Lady Wimborne from the 1930s.

In addition to the Chaumet tiara and sautoir and emerald pendant, her Cartier emerald and diamond bracelet can clearly be seen, among others, on her left wrist.

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Diamond sautoir - originally longer - circa 1925.

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Emerald and diamond earrings, circa 1920.

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Composite diamond and emerald tiara - some elements possibly created earlier - the three flowerhead elements mounted en tremblant, circa 1915.

The back of the central flowerhead element, showing how it is set en tremblant.

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Viscountess Wimborne, by Sir John Lavery, 1939. Inscribed on the reverse by the artist, "THE LADY IN WHITE/VISCOUNTESS/WIMBORNE."
The gown, by Vionnet, appears to be the same one worn by the sitter in the first and third Beaton portraits shared above.

Alice Katherine Sibell, Viscountess Wimborne (née Grosvenor, 26 September 1880, Watford, England - 17 April 1948, London), English aristocrat and prominent society hostess. She married Ivor Churchill Guest - later Baron Ashby St Ledgers, then 1st Viscount Wimborne - in 1902. They had one son, Ivor Guest, later 2nd Viscount Wimborne, and two daughters, Rosemary and Cynthia. She and her husband were amicably separated by the 1930s, and from 1934 to her death she was in a relationship with the composer William Walton; she is credited as the inspiration for his Violin Concerto. Photographed by Beaton, her portrait painted by Lavery, she was known for her vivacity, individual style, and personal independence. She was also an astute political spouse and great supporter of the arts. She died of lung cancer at the Ritz at the age of sixty-seven.

In his Laughter in the Next Room, published in 1948 - the year of her death - her friend, the writer and poet, Sir Osbert Sitwell, wrote of her:

Her great beauty, subtle and full of glamour though it was, and the fact that she was the wife of one of the richest men in England, were apt to blind people equally to her political intelligence, interest, and experience. The attitude she presented to the world of a fashionable beauty who dressed with daring and loved admiration, the guise of an accomplished woman of the world, which was hers naturally, by birth, tradition and upbringing, hid from the crowd the clever woman who inhabited this exquisite shell.

Profligate yardage - gowns by Jacques Griffe, 1950-59

The photographs here are by Willy Maywald, Regina Relang, Richard Avedon, and others.

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Griffe demonstrating his design method using a miniature mannequin. Photograph by Georges Saad, 1949.

Jacques Griffe (29 November 1909, Conques-sur-Orbiel - 24 June 1996, Castelnaudary), French couturier and costume designer. He first served as an apprenticeship for a tailor in Carcassonne, beginning at the age of sixteen, before relocating to Toulouse where he worked for Mirra, a dressmaker who followed the Paris collections. After fulfilling his military service in 1936, he went to work as a cutter with Madeleine Vionnet in Paris. In the three years spent under her supervision and mentorship, he perfected his technical skills, eventually following the example of Vionnet in his use of a miniature mannequin to work out his design ideas, and becoming a master of draping and cutting, particularly known for his tour de force execution of complicated - shirring, pleating, tucking, etc. - fabric manipulation.

In 1941 - or 1942, depending on the source - he opened his own couture house on place Gaillon. He was later mobilized though, captured, and spent eighteen months in a Pomeranian prison camp. After the war, he relocated his couture house to 29, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and then moved once again, in 1951, when he took over Edward Molyneux's salon at 5, rue Royale. During this period he also, like other couturiers, became known for his fragrances, with names like Enthusiasme, Griffonnage, Mistigri, Doodle, and Grilou. He closed his business in 1968 - or 1973, depending on the source - and retired to Villesiscle, near Carcassonne. When he died, at the age of eighty-four, he was buried nearby in Conques-sur-Orbiel, the place of his birth.

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For even more of his designs, including daywear and less "floofy" gowns, visit this Flickr album.