Marcus & Co.

Accompanied by AGL report no. 1121660 dated March 18, 2022 stating that the emerald is of Colombian origin, clarity enhancement: minor, type: traditional.

Herman Marcus traveled to India in 1894, the year his beloved wife died. During this “tour of India,” the Montclair Times reported, he acquired “an interesting and complete collection of Indian jewels.” Indian jewelry had a lasting influence on the firm’s design aesthetic. 

Important art collectors such as MCD Borden, a textile magnate known as “The Calico King," purchased Indian jewelry from Marcus & Co. Borden's significant collection of Old Masters, Asian porcelains, ancient glass, a “notable library” and a group of jewels was sold in 1913. American Art News (1913, vol. 11, no. 18) noted that collection contained “rare old pieces of Indian jewelry secured from Marcus & Co. in 1896.” These “rare objects from India” were sold on the third day of the Borden auction. In the auction catalogue published by American Art Galleries, lots 546, 547 and 548 were listed as an “Antique Indian Belt Buckle,” a “Sacred Lingam” and a “Rare and Beautiful Engraved Emerald and Enamel Buckle.” Each "gem encrusted" object was set with a substantial engraved or carved emerald, the largest weighing 387 carats. The 387 carat emerald had been mounted by Marcus & Co. in gold in “India style, with Japiur enamel back”, and was accompanied by a letter from the jeweler attesting to an undocumented provenance from the Maharajah of Benares. The dimensions of this emerald may be appreciated by comparison to the “Mogul Emerald” held in the Collection of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar. The Moghul measures 5.2 x 4.0 x 4.0 cm and weighs 217.80 carats.

Throughout its history, the firm continued to offer jewelry and gems acquired in India, promoting Indian arts at events such as tea parties held at the Sherry Netherland. At one such tea in 1929, the New York Times reported that a thousand people attended to view a collection of Indian jewelry valued at $1,000,000. It included a carved emerald called the Taj Mahal, “a stone of 55 carats, intricately carved with the daisy and the iris, which are decorative motifs of the Taj Mahal.”

Sotheby’s is grateful to Sheila Barron Smithies and Beth Wees for their extensive research relating to this extraordinary brooch. They are presently working on a book on Marcus & Co. due to be published in Fall 2024.