Yahoo News Jewelled pig-shaped evening bag sells at auction for nearly £110,000
An eccentric pig-shaped diamond and ruby evening bag has sold for more than £109,000 at auction.
The unusual purse – which went for 44 times more than expected – formed part of a huge sale of glittering jewellery and antique heirlooms which belonged to the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
The high society treasures fetched a total of over £5 million at Sotheby’s on Wednesday.
#AuctionUpdate Breaking the piggy bank: This gorgeous Lacloche Frères pig-shaped bag, crafted circa 1905 – the eyes set with cabochon rubies and the tail and trotters set with rose-cut diamonds – trots to £109,620 – 44 times its estimate of £2,000-3,000#SothebysMountbatten pic.twitter.com/xyoGveExZC
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 24, 2021
Patricia Knatchbull, the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who died in 2017, was a first cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh, a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a great niece of Russia’s last Tsarina.
She was the daughter of Earl Mountbatten – the last Viceroy of India – who was murdered by the IRA in 1979, and his wife Edwina.
Among the 385 lots was the Banks diamond brooch which sold for £138,600.
#AuctionUpdate The Banks Diamond: A late 18th century brooch with a cushion-shaped yellow diamond given to explorer and botanist Joseph Banks by his eccentric sister Sarah around the time of his marriage in 1779 sells for £138,600 (est. £40,000-60,000)#SothebysMountbatten pic.twitter.com/cLssqYOOGQ
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 24, 2021
The piece – which originally belonged to the explorer and botanist Joseph Banks – is set with a cushion-shaped yellow diamond, and was estimated to fetch up to £60,000.
The historic jewel was passed down through the Knatchbull Baronets.
The Lacloche Freres ruby and diamond evening mesh bag in the shape of a pig sold for £109,620 – 44 times its estimate of between £2,000 and £3,000.
The unusual purse features eyes set with cabochon rubies, a tail and trotters made of rose-cut diamonds and a spine of cushion-shaped diamonds.
It belonged to the Countess’s mother Edwina, the 1st Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
The Mountbatten family loved animals and had a menagerie of pets wherever they lived, including a horse gifted to Edwina and Louis Mountbatten by the Maharajah of Jaipur for their wedding, and a lion cub that Edwina brought home from South Africa when Patricia was 13.
Sotheby’s said 1,400 bidders registered from 55 countries for the auction.
#AuctionUpdate Queen Victoria's mourning jewellery from the collection of her great-great-granddaughter: four wearable mementos all more than double their estimates, bringing a combined £100,800#SothebysMountbatten pic.twitter.com/1MCevQKXhd
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 24, 2021
Queen Victoria’s mourning jewels – a button, brooch and two pendants – some containing locks of hair sold for a combined total of £100,800.
The items were said to have brought solace to Victoria following the death of her mother and three of her nine children.
They included a banded agate and diamond pendant commissioned by Prince Albert in 1861 with a miniature photograph of the Duchess of Kent and a lock of hair which sold for £32,760.
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