Turquoise Oak Leaves and Acorns

Tiara composed of oak leaves and acorns, all set with small round turquoise set in gold metal. One acorn, on the upper right, is a cap only.

source

I've seen this on other tiara sites but always only this one picture and never with a whole lot of information. At one point in time it was up for auction at Christie's. In 1997 it sold for CHF 27,600 (I believe that's Swiss francs) but, as usual, there are no auction notes stating who bought it. The details on the tiara are very sparse:

The pavé-set turquoise tapered band of oakleaf and acorn motif, the uppermost leaf being hinged, mid-19th Century, 37.0 cm., (one turquoise deficient), in a black leather fitted case

Elsewhere, the tiara is said to have been made in 1850 in Italy and that the turquoise is Persian, with another site claiming it is specifically Nishapur.

In Geoffrey C. Munn's book Tiaras, A History of Splendor, he says this about the tiara:

The turquoise represents true love and the oak fortitude and strength. The empty acorn cup may stand for the loss that inevitably follows love. This dramatic jewel was probably designed for a bride and dates from about 1840.

This tiara fascinates me, not because of the motif or the turquoise. It's because of the texture. I don't think I have any weird hang ups or issues with food BUT - I am so in love with the bumpy texture of nonpareils (also apparently known as hundreds and thousands, jazzies, sprinkles and freckles, depending on where in the world you are) and this tiara looks like it's covered in them.

3 photos in a row - on the left is a bag of See's Candy Non-Pareil Jelly Eggs, in the middle is a pile of chocolate nonpareil drops with little white candy pellets on the top and on the right is a sugar cookie covered in multicolored candy nonpareil pellets.

Examples of things with nonpareils on them

This is probably the totally wrong thing to say on the Internet but I just really like they way they feel on my tongue. And, if that tiara and I were ever left alone in a room, well, I can't guarantee that I might not just want to put it in my mouth. A little bit. A quick lick, maybe. (Once again, a totally wrong thing to say on the Internet BUT WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE AND YOU WON'T JUDGE ME, WILL YOU?)

Just have to end with this because I think it's amusing. One of the Facebook users who often posts tiaras, Mrs. Daffodil, posted this tiara and this was one of the comments:

That is ridiculous at a sublime level, like aquarium gravel that self-organized into jewelry!
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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