Gold and enamel watchchain, circa 1860 and later

The half-spherical pendant with a map of the Americas may commemorate an expedition trough the Brazilian rainforest undertaken by Princess Therese of Bavaria (1850-1925) in 1888. She was a passionate ethnologist, botanist and zoologist and amassed a large study collection during this scientific expedition. In 1897, she published her travel journal Meine Reise in die Brasilianischen Tropen.

Ludwig II (1845-1886)

The millenary history of the Wittelsbach family did not produce a more famous figure than the elusive King Ludwig II, the Fairytale King. Though he might not have been the most capable administrator, his immortal legacy consists of building three wildly extravagant castles, promoting the music of Richard Wagner and being a queer icon.

Ludwig was the eldest son of King Maximilian II Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Marie of Prussia, Queen of Bavaria. His parents greatly enjoyed exploring nature, a modern past-time in the 19th century inspired by the romantic movement. They had built their summer retreat Schloss Hohenschwangau in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, close to the location which Ludwig eventually selected for his magnum opus Schloss Neuschwanstein.

Ludwig succeeded his father at the tender age of eighteen. He was in favour of Bavaria remaining neutral in the power-race between Prussia and Austria within the German speaking world. Prussia eventually united Germany following the Franco-Prussian War at which point Ludwig increasingly neglected his duties as King.

Ludwig was famously smitten by the music of Richard Wagner. As a youngster he had been smitten by the operas Lohengrin and Tannhäuser and their associated Germanic mythological worlds. When he became King, his first action was to invite Wagner to Bavaria where he provided him with a house and unlimited means to work on his operas. Ludwig sponsored the world premieres of Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, but he fell out with the composer when he ordered unauthorised performances of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre which Wagner wished to debut only as part of the complete Ring Cycle at his planned purpose-built theatre in Bayreuth.

Not content merely with creating fantasy worlds on the stage, Ludwig started building real life stage sets in brick and mortar. Schloss Linderhof brought to life the court of Louis XV, Schloss Herrenchiemsee is a replica of Versailles in the middle of Lake Chiemsee, while Neuschwanstein is a knightly castle in a fanciful mix of romanesque and neo-gothic styles.

Ludwig’s estrangement from Bavarian politics eventually caught up with him. In 1886, the Bavarian government sought to have him declared non compos mentis via a diagnosis pronounced by a medical panel that did not even inspect the patient first-hand. A few days later Ludwig drowned in Lake Starnberg under mysterious circumstances, consecrating his legend.