An impressive amethyst and aquamarine necklace, by Verdura, 1969

The highly articulated necklace graduating in size from the centre, set throughout with amethysts and aquamarines of both oval and circular-shape and of various sizes, to a concealed clasp, unsigned, length 53.0cm., fitted Verdura case - Sold for £20,400

Footnote:
The brilliant palette that was already recognised as a Verdura trademark is best exemplified in the necklaces known as “collars of colour”. So extravagant were these pieces that they were often mistaken for fakes. At a New York dinner party, one of Verdura’s clients wearing a diamond and star sapphire necklace and bracelet was pained to overhear another guest whisper to her partner: “Don’t you think it’s perfectly awful to go out to dinner wearing plastic?” These subtly proportioned, tapered bibs seem almost to float, as stones of differing size and hue are clustered to create a shimmering, painterly effect, rather than emphasize a single gem.
Extract taken from Corbette, Patricia, Verdura, the life and work of a master jeweller, London, 2002, pp 178-9

Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen lived her entire life surrounded by one of America’s best private art collections. From an early age she shared her parent’s fondness for European decorative arts and her father’s particular enthusiasm for Oriental rugs. “I used to spend Saturday after Saturday with my father…counting the knots in Isfahani rugs” she mentioned to the New York Times in 1969. Bernice started her own collecting as an undergraduate in Paris while still in her early 20s and went on to compile an extraordinary art collection in her own right.

Bernice was the first and only woman president of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1964 until 1968, thus prolonging an already successful relationship between the McIlhenny family and a leading American museum (her father was President of the museum from 1920 until his death in 1925 and her only brother, Henry McIlhenny, was curator of the museum’s decorative arts department)

Mrs Wintersteen specialised in 19th and 20th-century French painters and her extraordinary collection included 17 Picassos and works by Matisse and Degas, amongst others. The Picassos sold at auction in 1973 for $52.6 million because, as Mrs Wintersteen told questioners, she was 70 years old and it was time to start getting her affairs in order. “I’m always grateful for what I received,” she told an interviewer for the New York Times. “[Henry and I] have always had a conscience”.

Mrs Wintersteen’s characteristic directness made her a favourite with columnists. Asked why she gave so many parties and often had guests drawn from the upper levels of government and society, she replied: “I just like people and I don’t give a hoot…whether they are social or not.” When she entertained, her evening dresses were off set with her “good and big” jewels of semiprecious stones which she and her brother Henry would bring back from South America and which were then mounted by Verdura.

This sumptuous amethyst and aquamarine suite, was designed and mounted by Verdura in 1969 as a special commission. It has an estimated 880 carats of amethysts, and its creative, bold design is characteristic of the iconic jewels which so epitomise Verdura's work.

- New York Times, June 6, 1969
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday, April 25, 1986

Many thanks to Ms Alexandra Wintersteen, Philadelphia Museum of Art archivist, Susan K Anderson and to Verdura New York.

Bonhams. Fine Jewellery, 4 Dec 2008. New Bond Street. Copyright © 2002-2008 Bonhams 1793 Ltd., Images and Text All Rights Reserved. www.bonhams.com