| Date | 25 February 2011 |
|---|---|
| Source | Slough Observer |
| Reference | VP-0124 |
| Volume | Views of the Past |
| Collection | Press Clippings |
Transcript
Our link to the Dodge Pearls
During the 1930s, the estate of St Leonards (now Legoland and previously Windsor Safari Park) was purchased by an American, Horace Dodge Jr., the son of Horace E. Dodge, founder of the internationally renowned Dodge Automobile Company. He then set about to ‘refurbish’ the house, which was locally known as ‘Mr Dodge’s Castle’.
St Leonards was mainly occupied by Horace Dodge Jr.’s mother, Dundee-born pianist and violinist Anna Thomson Dodge, who at that time – as the widow of Horace E Dodge – was one of the richest women in the world. She had four further houses throughout England and others in the USA and was also a great collector of art and exquisite jewellery.
While recently browsing through online pages of the New York Times, I came across an article on how Mrs Dodge had acquired a beautiful pearl necklace which was believed to have belonged to the Empress Catherine the Great, one of Russia’s great Romanov rulers. The Empress, who ruled between 1762 and 1796, was a great connoisseur and collector of arts, artefacts and jewels and the pearl necklace was one of the most prized of her treasures.
The necklace consisted of 389 natural pearls arranged in five strings, with a total weight equivalent to 1076.25 carats. It bore an enamel clasp depicting Catherine, Empress of Russia, plus two alternate diamond clasps. Passed down through successive Romanov rulers, it had been part of the personal jewellery collection either of Czar Nicholas or a close relative.
During the upheavals of the October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, most Russian aristocratic families escaped to other European countries, carrying with them their personal jewels which they were forced to sell to ensure their own survival. It is believed that Catherine the Great’s five-strand pearl necklace was one such item brought to Europe at that time.
It was purchased by Cartier of Paris and dispatched to the firm’s American branch in New York. Cartier sold the necklace in 1920 for an unprecedented $825,000 to Horace E. Dodge, who presented it to his wife, Anna.
It remained in her family until December 2008, when a portion of the necklace (known as the Catherine the Great/Dodge Pearl Necklace), consisting of 224 pearls in only three strands, was sold for six million dollars at Bonham’s, New York.
The name of the pearl necklace thus appropriately reflects the name of its two previous owners, Empress Catherine the Great of Russia and Anna Thomson Dodge of the United States of America – and Windsor, England.
■ ST LEONARDS: The English residence of Mrs Anna Thomson Dodge, c.1934.(Top Photo)
■ TREASURE: Mrs Dodge and her famous pearl necklace, 1920. (Bottom Photo)
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