Carved Opal Pendant by Rene Lalique, c. 1900. Photo © 2013 Christie's Images Ltd. Used with permission.
In a sale that brought in over $10 million for The Old Possum's Practical Trust, this magnificent opal and glass pendant earned secured the leading role at Christie's auction, A Life's Devotion: The Collection of the Late Mrs T.S. Eliot, which took place in London on November 20, 2013. Commanding a sales price of $154,913, more than twice its estimated price, this demure pendant of opal, gold, and opalescent glass begs the question: How?
And How?
First, the pendant is a fine specimen of Art Nouveau jewelry fashioned by one of the founding fathers of the period, René Lalique. Pieces made by Lalique typically fetch anywhere between $6,000 and $60,000 at Christie's auctions. Indeed, this piece was estimated to bring in $48,300-$64,400.
Second, as stated above, all proceeds from the sale of Mrs. T.S. Eliot's jewelry and portrait miniature collection were bequeathed to The Old Possum's Practical Trust, a charity founded by the late Mrs. Eliot in 1965. According to their website, the Trust declares the following mission: "To manage the funds at its disposal to support literary, artistic, musical and theatrical projects and organisations" {cited}. Historically, charity auctions have a tendency to bring in higher returns, especially for those charities promoting the arts.
Finally, the piece has what experts call a provenance of importance. This stunning Art Nouveau jewel, with its sinuous gold lines and its mesmerizing opalescent pendant, was chosen by a woman whose taste is unparalleled in both literature and art. Credited by Christie's as "an esteemed editor, astute collector, dedicated philanthropist, and supporter of literature and the arts" {cited}, Mrs. T.S. Eliot amassed in her lifetime a collection which Christie's notes was "motivated by both a rigorous academic interest in art and a deeply personally and aesthetic response to the works themselves" {cited}.
A Provenance of Importance
Esmé Valerie Eliot (nee Fletcher) devoted nearly her entire life to the preservation and promotion of the works and memory of Thomas Stearns (T.S.) Eliot. Her life's devotion began at the tender of age of 14, when she heard a sound recording of Sir John Gielgud reading Journey of the Magi, a haunting poem which left an indelible mark on her soul. At the age of 23, in pursuit of her dream to work for the poem's author, Ms. Fletcher secured a position as his secretary at Faber and Faber in 1949. Over the following seven years, her girlhood crush turned into real romance. In a private ceremony, attended only by her parents, Valerie Fletcher married T.S. Eliot at St. Barnabas's Church in Kensington on January 10, 1957. Mrs. Eliot maintained her career in publishing, distinguishing herself as a keen editor whose "attention to detail, mental acuity and thoroughness of approach" earned her husband's profound respect {cited}. For nine short years, the two worked alongside each other during the day and spent their evenings reading to each other by the fire "playing Scrabble and eating cheese" {cited}. Unfortunately, Mr. Eliot succumbed to emphysema after years of smoking. He passed in January of 1965, naming his wife "the sole protector of his legacy" {cited}. For the next 47 years, Mrs. Eliot dedicated her life to preserving T.S. Eliot's memory and legacy. She worked tirelessly to acquire as many of his letters as she could, succeeding in publishing a complete volume of his letters dating between 1898-1922. Perhaps her crowning literary achievement, though, was her publication of the facsimile edition of The Waste Land, which included in the margins notations made by Ezra Pound {cited}.Her Assemblage of Portrait Miniatures
In her spare time, she collected art and jewelry. Perhaps her most astute collection was her assemblage of portrait miniatures. True to form, she applied a rigorous academic approach to this collection after working on the 1972 Faber and Faber publication of Daphne Foskett's Dictionary of British Miniature Painters. Mrs. Eliot invited the author along on many of her collecting trips. As a result, the walls of Mrs. Eliot's Kensington flat were hung with over 225 exquisite miniature portraits in round, oval, square, and rectangular frames. Mrs. Eliot built her collection for over 20 years, and by the time of her death she had successfully "charted the development of the portrait miniature in England from its inception in the 16th century" {cited}. Unsurprisingly, the lots sold from this collection yielded over $3.65 million. The leading lot, #65, featured "a gentleman, in blue coat, white waistcoat, frilled shirt and cravat, powdered hair en queue signed with initials and dated 'J.S. 1789/I' for Ivory...on ivory oval...within split-pearl border, surmounted by a diamond-set bow on blue glass, the reverse with plaited hair in white and blue enamel border within blue glass, set with pearls" {cited}. Celebrated for his "exceptional attention to detail and ability to capture the personality of his sitter," John Smart is lauded as one of the Georgian Era's most important portrait miniaturists {cited}. In life, Mrs. Eliot devoted herself to the pursuit and preservation of her husband's legacy. Now in her death, she reaches further into the future, establishing a heritage of her own. Countless artists, musicians, and performers will benefit from the successful sale of her outstanding collection through Christie's auction house. Perhaps we will one day soon see on Broadway the fruit of her labors of love.11 years ago
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