The Floor is Lava - and so is the Tiara!

A set of jewelry in a velvet-lined case. The set is made of gold with cameos in the shape of Medusa heads carved out of lava rock. There is a tiara, brooch, two bracelets, earrings and necklace.

Queen Désirée's Lava Parure

The tiara really is made of lava! How dope is that? I mean, anyone can have a tiara made of diamonds. Boring! Well, unless they're diamond goats. But how many people can say they have one made of lava?

And it's not just a tiara - it's a whole parure (a matched set of jewelry)! The set is made of lava stone cameos set in gold and has a tiara, earrings, necklace, 2 bracelets and a brooch. I have seen the cameos described as both Medusa and "some kind of goddesses." Look at them! Snaky hair and all the faces looking somewhat the same? I'm firmly on the side of Team Medusa.

Currently owned by Countess Désirée of Rosenborg (Denmark), it was originally made for Queen Désirée (Desideria) of Sweden in the early 19th century. For such an amazing set, there are surprisingly few pictures and not much history that I can find. Most of the pictures are surprisingly blurry and lack detail. I can't imagine how awesome this tiara looks in real life since even the crappy pictures are amazeballs.

closeup picture of Countess Désirée of Rosenborg wearing the tiara, necklace, earrings and one of the bracelets from the lava parure

Countess Désirée of Rosenborg wearing the tiara, necklace, earrings and one of the bracelets from her seriously banging lava parure

Lava - that certainly is a choice! But why? There was a period of time when it was popular for the nobility and very well-off people, usually men (although not always), to make a "Grand Tour" of the continent. It was considered educational, a chance to be exposed to culture, art and music. Italy was a popular destination. It also had lots of volcanic rock. In the early 19th century, a fad started where tourists would bring home cameos carved from lava stone. Check out the links below for a really cool in-depth article on lava cameos. This jewelry set was very much a thing of its time.

example of a 19th century lava cameo carved in the shape of a medusa head

Example of a 19th century lava cameo carved in the shape of a medusa head

The tiara was most likely made around 1820-1830 by Simon Petiteau, whose specialty was graineti (clusters of gold beads) and cannetille (consisting of tightly coiled threads of gold). You can see the evidence of that in the pictures of the lava parure. I just had to include this snippy take from a well-known jeweler from the early 20th century, Henri Vever, who said this about Petiteau and one other jeweler, "...the only jewellers who produced innovative and attractive designs at a time when jewellery was generally considered to be of deplorable taste, especially under the reign of Louis-Philippe." Oh, snap!

black and white photo of gold tiara with lava cameos

Black and white image of the tiara

So that's all I've got for you on this truly one-of-a-kind tiara. Check out the links below for information on the Grand Tour, the history of lava cameos, a little bit about the jeweler and various write-ups on the lava parure!

image of a white rabbit popping out of his rabbit hole, looking around, and going back in. His rabbit hole is surrounded by grass and some carrots in the ground.

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