Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace

Yesterday marked the 80th Anniversary of the Death of Princess Ebba Bernadotte, Countess of Wisborg, who passed away in 1946! The Aristocratic Lady-in-Waiting who became the morganatic wife of a Swedish Prince, Princess Ebba received Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace!

Queen Sofia’s Pink Topaz Tiara | Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace

Composed of two strands of one hundred and five natural pearls, suspending seven detachable drop-shaped natural pearls, all capped with rose-cut diamonds, to the clasp set with an old-mine-cut diamond, the Necklace is attributed to Nitot, the predecessor of the House of Chaumet, and was likely ordered by the famed Empress Josephine, the first wife of Emperor Napoleon.

The necklace was probably a gift from Empress Josephine to her daughter-in-law, Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg, who received similar spectacular gifts like an Emerald Parure, a Sapphire Parure, and a Cameo Parure, but unlike the others, was notably portrayed wearing the Pearl Necklace in various portraits.

When Princess Augusta’s daughter, Princess Josephine, married the future King Oscar I of Sweden, she received Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace among several spectacular gifts and often wore it with the Swedish Cameo Tiara over several decades.

After Queen Josefina’s death in 1876, her Pearl Necklace was inherited by the then Swedish Queen, Queen Sofia, who loaned it to her daughter-in-law, the then Crown Princess Victoria, for a Charity Ball in benefit of the Sophiahemmet Hospital in the 1880s, when she put the Necklace in her hair.

At some point, Queen Sofia gave Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace to her daughter-in-law, Princess Ebba Bernadotte, the morganatic wife of Prince Oscar, who was pictured wearing the piece numerous times from the 1890s to the 1940s.

After Princess Ebba’s death in 1946, Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace was worn by her daughter-in-law, Countess Gerty Bernadotte af Wisborg.

From the late 1970s, Countess Gertrud Bernadotte af Wisborg, wife of Princess Ebba’s grandson, was the one pictured wearing Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace.

Originally auctioned by the Bernadotte Family in 1995, Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace reappeared at Auction in 2014 at Sotheby’s Geneva and was then exhibited a number of times, including the National Museum in Stockholm and by Chaumet in Paris before going on Auction at the Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels Sale in Hong Kong in 2021.

Queen Josefina’s Pearl Necklace now belongs to the legendary Al-Thani Collection, going on display in the landmark ‘Dynastic Jewels’ Exhibition at the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris a few months ago and there is no doubt we will see it displayed again soon!

The Bernadotte Family retained the Duchess of Leuchtenberg’s Pearl Earrings until last year, when they were auctioned off in Stockholm, and their current location is not known.