attributed to Nitot

Therese of Sachsen-Hildburghausen, Queen of Bavaria (1792-1854)

Cf.: Henri Loyrette (ed.), Chaumet - Joaillier Parisien Depuis 1780, Paris, 2017, pg. 52, for the regalia commissioned by the Bavarian King.

The Bavarian Crown and The Crown Jeweller Nitot

When Bavaria was elevated to the rank of Kingdom in 1806, King Maximilian I Joseph (1756-1825) ordered his regalia from Napoleon's Crown Jeweller Nitot et Fils. This commission included the Royal crown originally set with the historic Wittelsbach Blue diamond, as well as the Queen consort's crown, state sword, orb and scepter. These magnificent regalia are today exhibited at the Schatzkammer of the Munich Residenz.

Nitot et Fils was founded by Marie-Étienne Nitot (1750-1809) who worked with his eldest son François-Regnault (1779-1853). In 1808, Nitot established a shop on Place Vendôme, making its successor Chaumet the oldest jewellery house with a continuous, historic presence on the famous Parisian square. The firm never registered a maker's mark: as was customary, the house did not manufacture jewellery itself, but always worked with independent ateliers. The regalia of the Bavarian King, for instance, features the marks of Jean-Baptiste Leblond.

The Bavarian King also ordered personal jewellery from Nitot. In 1810, he spent several months at the Parisian court. During this time his son and heir, the later King Ludwig I (1786-1868), was engaged to Therese of Sachsen-Hildburghausen (1792-1854). It is entirely possible that the Bavarian King acquired these diamond ears of wheat at Nitot as a wedding present for his new daughter-in-law. Nitot was famous for creating wheat sheaf tiaras, one of the most popular and perennially beloved models of the Empire-era, evoking the Roman-inspired majesty of Napoleon's court. Queen Therese can be seen wearing eight diamond ears of wheat sewn onto her bodice in a portrait by Carl Joseph Begas (1794-1854), circa 1825-1830.

Queen Therese of Bavaria (1792-1854)

Therese of Sachsen-Hildburghausen was born in Thuringia as the daughter of Duke Frederic I of Sachsen-Hildburghausen (1763-1834). She grew up in a harmonious family, though her parents were of relatively modest means due to their Duchy’s historically accrued debts. In 1810, she was engaged to the later King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786-1868), then still Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince wished to choose freely whom he married. In those years Napoleon Bonaparte was redrawing the map of the Southern German Princely states and had already established several marriage ties between his fledgling dynasty and the ancient Royal Houses of the former Holy Roman Empire. The Crown Prince' eldest sister Princess Auguste of Bavaria (1788-1851) had, for example, been married to Napoleon's adopted step-son Eugène de Beauharnais (1781-1824).

Ludwig and Therese were married on 12 October 1810 in Munich. As part of the wedding festivities, horse races were held on 17 October on an esplanade baptised the Theresienwiese in honour of the bride. The citizens of Munich rejoiced in the festivities so much that it became an annual tradition held every year, known as the Oktoberfest.

Queen Therese was much beloved for her charitable nature, supporting orphanages, hospitals, child care and education with unlimited enthusiasm. She was the consummate Landesmutter to her people and a supportive wife to her husband, but always retained the Protestant faith of her upbringing, rather than Bavaria's majoritarian Catholicism. Queen Therese possessed one of the most splendorous jewellery collections of her time. She owned the earliest known example of a natural pearl and diamond lover's knot tiara, a model copied for several European Royals throughout the 19th century, as well as a magnificent and imposing spinel and diamond parure. These jewels are on permanent display at the Munich Residenz alongside the Bavarian regalia. Furthermore, Queen Therese also owned a large diamond tiara of foliate design created by Nitot which is recorded on her coronation portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, circa 1826.