A SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND 'GAUGUIN' FLOWER BROOCH, BY VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

A SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND 'GAUGUIN' FLOWER BROOCH, BY VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Designed as two flowerheads, each centering upon a cushion or octagonal-shaped sapphire pistil to the curling pavé-set diamond petals, 1 3/4 ins., mounted in gold plated platinum
Signed V.C.A., N.Y., no. 1578 SO (Special Order)

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
Post Lot Text
Her Serene Highness Princess Cecil Amelia von Fürstenberg (1919-2006)
H.S.H. Cecil Amelia von Fürstenberg was the lively and exuberant daughter of Sarah Campbell and Robert Lee Blaffer of Texas and the devoted wife of H.S.H. Prince Tassilo von Fürstenberg (1903-1991). Her Texan background was a legacy of the burgeoning oil industry of the early 20th century: her mother's family, the Campbells, founded the Texas Company which would later be known as Texaco, and her father's, the company Humble Oil, which later became Exxon.
Princess von Fürstenberg was a celebrated hostess fluent in four languages, an avid art collector and a tireless traveler with a passion for opera and European history. Moreover, as a generous patron of the arts and renowned philanthropist, the Princess devoted much of her energy to charitable causes, including the Cecil Amelia Blaffer Foundation. In 1976, she married H.S.H. Prince Tassilo von Fürstenberg, taking the title Her Serene Highness Princess Cecil Amelia von Fürstenberg.
The Princess' vivacious personality, passion for art, and love of life were perfectly epitomised in the form of her fabulous jewels. Her almost unwavering patronage of the Maison Van Cleef & Arpels during the 1960s is self-evident, with jewels often acquired from this illustrious house by Special Order: pieces designed especially for, and at times with, the client, and in the case of the Princess, employing beautiful diamonds, sapphires and rubies often supplied by the Princess herself.