Peacock Aigrette
The Al Thani Collection
The head of the peacock, which is glancing at the viewer with a curious expression, is enamelled in deep blue, gradating to lighter blue, green and yellow toward its tail. The gently swinging train is set with 1742 small diamonds. This piece was created by Mellerio dits Meller, a Parisian jeweller with a long history. The ancestor of the Mellerio family was originally from Italy, and it is said that they established their jewellery house after receiving a warrant from the Florentine princess Marie de' Medici who married into the French royal family. Later they became one of the favourite jewellers of royalty, with the list of customers including famous royalty and titled nobility in Europe such as Marie Antoinette. Mellerio produced a series of Peacock themed jewellery at the time, and one such piece was bought by Jagatjit Singh, Maharaja of Kapurthala. He purchased this piece as a turban ornament, which surprised Mellerio dits Meller as they never expected a man to wear such a piece. The maharaja later gave this ornament as a gift to his fifth wife Anita Delgado.
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