A gold-and silver-mounted diamond-set tiara shaped as a myrtle wreath with six groups of diamond-set leaves and diamond berries on engraved red gold stalks - signed with initials KF for Carl Fabergé, overall length 15 inches (38 cm)
Provenance: Mrs. Gerald Grosvenor
Note: This diadem, although not signed with workmaster's initials, comes from the jewelry workshop of August Holmström (1829-1903), who was also responsible for some of the firm's greatest jewels. These include the Lilies of the Valley Basket of 1896 (cf. Fabergé in America, cat. 59; the miniature replicas of the Imperial Regalia (cf. Nicholas & Alexandra, cat. 208), which date from c. 1900. Presumably a family commission, this ornament was designed as a wreath of myrtle, a plant sacred to Venus, to be worn by future Grosvenor brides (cf. Geoffrey Munn in Wartski 1977 catalogue).

By kind permission of His Grace The Duke of Westminster OBE TD DL