Lovely antique French paste or glass 'jeweled' tiara, crown or diadem, a canonical coronation piece but great as a jewelry display or accent with clear & blue sapphire colored 'gems' and wonderful condition! This elegant antique French gilded brass jeweled religious crown, tiara or diadem dates from the mid 19th century, circa 1850-1890 roughly. Richly decorated with faceted paste or glass 'jewels' in the base and throughout most of the crown. Gilt brass or bronze filigree with stylized Fleur d'lys holding it all together beautifully!
The crown is an emblem of royalty and victory. A canonical coronation is a pious institutional act of the Pope, duly expressed in a Papal Bull, in which he bestows an ornamental crown, diadem or halo to a Marian, Christological, or Josephian image or statue that is widely venerated in a particular diocese or locality. During the 17th century, Alessandro Sforza, to show his piety towards the Mother of infant Jesus, sent gold crowns to the most famous Virgin statues at the time. Since 1631, the date of this initiative, this gesture of piety by Sforza became the custom as evidenced by this style of crown. This is also one of four in various sizes that we're adding this week, all surely made and employed as described above but they also make wonderful accents to an opulent doll house or scene and, of course, they're just lovely decorative accents!
Very good to excellent condition for the metal, which has a maker's mark - looks like a silversmith's poincon, but I do not think it is silver and 18k vermeil. I see 7 missing 'jewels' though not distracting, they can be replaced with relative ease with matched sized ones from jewelry supply or crafting stores. There is just very little or slight age tarnish to the metal. It has the 'tab' on the band that moves or slide into the corresponding slot for size alteration. See pictures for measurements.
