Rose Brooch of Princess Mathilde, Mellerio, Paris, c. 1864, Diamonds, gold, silver, 14.5 × 10.8 × 5.1 cm © The Al Thani Collection, 2018. All rights reserved. Photograph by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

This magnificent diamond corsage brooch in the form of a large rose was created in 1864 by the Parisian jeweller, Mellerio dits Meller, for Napoleon III’s cousin, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte. It is on display at The Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine, Paris, from 10 December 2025 to 6 April 2026 as part of the exhibition ‘Dynastic Jewels’.

Princess Mathilde was a celebrated beauty and society hostess. She presided over fashionable salons at her hotel particulier in the Rue de Courcelles, with guests that included celebrated artists and writers as well as royalty. Her splendid jewellery was, perhaps, second only to that of Empress Eugénie and, in its size and provenance, the diamond rose corsage represents one of the most significant pieces from her collection and one of the most important survivals of great 19th-century jewels. After her death in 1904, Princess Mathilde’s jewellery was sold. The brooch was subsequently bought by Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt III and taken to North America to form part of her magnificent jewellery collection. Like Princess Mathilde, Mrs Vanderbilt was a leading society hostess and wore the rose to many of her soirées in New York.