Gem set, pearl and diamond demi-parure, circa 1800

When Emma, Lady Hamilton, returned to London, after the French occupation of Naples in 1800, she was forced to sell the diamonds she had worn at the Neapolitan court, replacing them with more modest purchases from the London jeweller John Slater in the The Strand. It is said that Emma did not have a penchant for extravagant jewels and clothes, preferring more modest attire of the genteel middle class. It is known that she purchased gilt metal hair combs, pearl necklaces and earrings, both real and imitation as well as amethysts and aquamarines mounted in cannetille filigree settings, generally favoring the sentiment of The Regency period with padlocks, keys and lyre motifs. Emma also owned several Maltese Cross pendants that became a favorite of hers. Popularized by Emma after being presented with a Maltese cross by the Tsar in recognition for her charity work in aid of the Maltese under French occupation. She was later presented an example embellished with diamonds from Queen Maria Carolina of Naples, sister to the recently executed Queen Marie Antoinette, as an indirect compliment to Horatio Nelson, who was to orchestrate the evacuation of the royal family prior to the French occupation and later assist in quelling the Republican uprising. In 1800 Emma had her portrait painted by Johann Heinrich Schmidt wearing the Maltese cross which was subsequently kept by Horatio Nelson in his cabin on board HMS Victory.

The current necklace is an unusual and early survival of the fashionable jewels that prevailed during the 1800s. Multi-coloured stones and the sentimental use of the pansy motif in a setting that is an early precursor of the later filigree cannetille. The Napoleonic Wars had severely disrupted global trade and during this period it was common practice to re-set earlier jewels into more fashionable styles. The current necklace is an example of such remodeling, the principle stones are all set in foiled cut-down gold collets and are likely to have been re-used from several earlier 18^th century rivieres, mounted in to more fashionable filigree settings, with the ever popular Pansy motifs using smaller gem stones as was the practice during this period. The necklace style and form are typical of the jewels that Emma, Lady Hamilton is known to have owned and worn on her return to London in 1800, the Pansy representing her love for Nelson and her platonic love for Sir William. The necklace also retains a pendant fitting which originally may have supported a Maltese Cross, a favorite of Emma’s. It is likely that Emma wore the current necklace at a concert given at the London home of the Duke of Norfolk in the company of the Prince of Wales in January 1801, where she is known to have made a spectacular appearance to win over the London press and diffuse any scandal surrounding her affair with Nelson. The necklace was subsequently later sold to the Countess of Aldborough, who gave it to Lady Campbell Barcaldine who bequeathed it to Miss Erica Rose Campbell of Barcaldine.