Cut steel tiara
Jewellery
Inventory number
2017.7.5.4.JW.TI.C1810.GBDescription
Cut steel tiara comb with stylized floral ornaments on the top made of tiny cut steel nails.Cut steel (or steel cut) jewelry is an arresting accoutrement of antique fashion that became a wildly popular substitute for diamonds in the 18th century. Tiny, multi-faceted steel beads were polished to resemble glittering gemstones and then riveted to a base plate to create a sea of subtle, dark sparkle.
Originating in England, around 1720 cut steel was manufactured in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. By 1761 it included worn items such as buckles and watch chains as well as scissors. Production in Birmingham became common latter in the century with Matthew BOULTON being a prominent producer. One of the major production items of 18th century cut steel was the shoe buckle and it is possible that the decline in the fashion for wearing buckles towards the end of the century drove the diversification of cut steel jewellery.
Cut steel jewelry became the rage in France around 1759, when citizens wore the jewelry as a replacement for more expensive pieces that were confiscated (or hidden) to pay for The Seven Years War. Cut steel is unique because it is the only fine jewelry imitation where the stones and the setting are made of the same material. As a stylish alternative to diamonds, it was accessible to all levels of society.
France served as a major export market but this was interrupted when war broke out 1793. The popularity of cut steel in France may in part have been due to Sumptuary laws which limited who could wear precious metals and diamonds. Manufacture of cut steel within France is attested from 1780 and by the start of the 1820s France had a large amount of domestic production of cut steel. With the end of the Napoleonic wars British produces again started exporting to France. The fashion for cut steel jewellery in France was probably given a boost when Napoleon married his second wife Marie Louise and presented her with a Parure consisting of cut steel jewellery.
One of the most famous jewellery pieces in cut steel of ourdays, is a "Napoleonic cut steel tiara", which belongs to the Swedish royal family. As the name suggests, this is a tiara with links to the court of Napoleon Bonaparte. But this sparkler didn’t belong to Empress Joséphine or Empress Marie Louise; instead, it’s said to have been made for Joséphine's daughter, Hortense de BEAUHARNAIS. Hortense was briefly a queen herself — she married her stepfather’s younger brother, Louis Bonaparte, who was king of Holland from 1806 to 1810 (their son will further become the Emperor Napoleon III of France).
There are no gemstones used anywhere in Hortense de BEAUHARNAIS's steel tiara construction — no diamonds, no pearls. Instead, it is made of steel that has been strategically cut, polished, and set in gold. But when this piece catches the light, the oak leaf, acorn, floral, and feather elements of the piece glitter almost as if they were inlaid with diamonds. The piece also has coordinating earrings and a choker necklace.
Hortense had no daughters, and it’s generally believed that she gave her steel jewelry to her niece, Joséphine of Leuchtenberg. When Joséphine married the future King Oscar I of Sweden in 1823, the steel sparkler apparently traveled with her to her new home in Stockholm.
And then, the tiara apparently disappeared for more than a century. The story goes like this: in 1976, the Swedes had a new queen, Silvia, who was very interested in the family’s historical jewel collection. One day, while poking about in the cabinets at the palace, she found an original velvet box; inside was this tiara, forgotten and neglected for years. She had it restored and wore it, along with the earrings and choker, for the first time at a state visit in 1979.
Materials
SteelCut steel
Origin
circa 1810 United KingdomDimensions
Length : 16.5 cmHeight : 8.5 cm