Garnet necklace

Status

On view

Label Text

Garnets were in vogue when Martha Washington received this necklace from England in 1759. The semi-precious stones, ranging in color from deep pinks to purplish-reds, were probably mined in Bohemia, while the necklace's style and mounting suggest a Parisian maker. It ultimately retailed in goldsmith Susanna Passavant's Ludgate Hill shop, where the Washingtons' agent in London purchased it. Mrs. Washington's fondness for garnets is evident from the number of necklaces, earrings, pins, hair ornaments and rings she assembled for herself and her daughter, Patsy (1757-1773), in the 1750s and 1760s. Properly faceted and set, this hard stone out-sparkled even more costly precious gems such as diamonds.

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Datec. 1759

Retailer Susanna Passavant (English, active 1738 - 1761)

Geography Probably made - FranceRetailed - England

Medium/TechniqueSilver, gold, rhodolite garnet

DimensionsOverall: 17 1/2 in. x 5 in. (44.45 cm x 12.7 cm) Overall (Diameter of rosette): 5/8 in. x 5/8 in. (1.59 cm x 1.59 cm)

Credit LineGift of Barnaby Conrad, 1989

Object numberW-2212

DescriptionNecklace featuring five floral rosettes comprised of seventeen, variously sized, brilliant- and oval-cut garnets and thirty-seven, square, cushion-cut garnets (five sets of six and one of seven). All stones are set in closed silver mounts with solid backings and linked by small silver rings; the silver was originally gilded or washed in gold. Tubular hexagonal gold catch.
Published ReferencesLousia E. Brouwer, "What Martha (Washington) Wore: The first First Lady's jewelry and the story of Susanna Passavant, retailer," Magazine Antiques 181/6 (November/December 2014): 130-133.

Carol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills, 2006), p. 250, cat. 87.

Martha Gandy Fales, "The Jewelry," Antiques 135, no. 2 (February 1989): 513, 517, pl. V.

Martha Gandy Fales, Jewelry in America, 1600-1900 (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1995), pp. 35, 37-8.

James C. Rees, Treasures from Mount Vernon: George Washington Revealed (Mount Vernon, VA: MVLA, 1999), p. 79.

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