#anthemion

[tiaramania]

* Coronation Tiaras *

Princess Eugenie of Greece wore her Diamond Anthemion Tiara for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.

[gardencourtsf]

An early 18th century French Baroque Green Paint and Parcel Gilt mirror frame with mercury plate, French circa 1720 ; weathered with small losses. height: 27 in. 68.5 cm., width: 18 in. 46 cm.

https://www.gardencourtantiques.com/shop/early-18th-century-french-baroque-green-paint-parcel-gilt-mirror-frame-with-mercury-plate/

[tiaramania]

How do you feel about the new configuration of the anthemion tiara? I think it’s an amazing improvement!! It looks like they added in more diamond elements and a pearl row along the bottom, but please correct me if I’m wrong. I adore your blog btw!

I think the inner most part of the side anthemions was removed so that they could be pushed closer to the center and then a line of diamonds and maybe also a line of pearls were added at the base.  I’m trying to reserve judgement until we get better pictures but I’m cautiously optimistic. I don’t understand why they didn’t do this in the first place.

Thank you!

[tiaramania]

Now that we had another royal wedding I looked back on other weddings. Tbh they did Sophie so dirty with the Anthemion tiara. It was by far the ugliest tiara ever worn by a (British) royal bride.

I get what they were trying to do.  The tiara is made out of anthemions from Queen Victoria’s Regal Circlet so it’s very historically important, more than any of the tiaras worn by the other British royal brides, but the execution was just so, so bad.  I even understand why they didn’t want to alter the anthemions but why did they make the base so high off her head.  They literally made it so there’s an inch between her head and the tiara.  Her hair was never going to be able to cover that up.

[tiaramania]

TIARA ALERT:  The Countess of Wessex wore her Anthemion Wedding Tiara (in a new setting) at the banquet during the State Visit from the United States on 3 June 2019.

[thebotanicalarcade]

[thebotanicalarcade]

PALMETTE

“One of the easiest ways for me to identify floral motifs in a rug pattern is to visualize a flower and recall biology class. A palmette is the vertical cross section of a flower and has a fan-like shape,” explains Albright. According to Peter F. Stone’s book Oriental Rugs, the palmette is based on the lotus flower and its spread petals and is interpreted by weavers in numerous ways.

From Wikipedia:

The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear relatively little resemblance to the original. In ancient Greek and Roman uses it is also known as the anthemion (from the Greek ανθέμιον, a flower). It is found in most artistic media, but especially as an architectural ornament, whether carved or painted, and painted on ceramics. It is very often a component of the design of a frieze or border.

[gardencourtsf]

Palmette decorative motif on an early 18th century French Baroque Green Paint and Parcel Gilt mirror frame with mercury plate, French circa 1720 ; weathered with small losses. height: 27 in. 68.5 cm., width: 18 in. 46 cm.

https://www.gardencourtantiques.com/shop/early-18th-century-french-baroque-green-paint-parcel-gilt-mirror-frame-with-mercury-plate/

Excerpt from Wikipedia: The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear relatively little resemblance to the original. In ancient Greek and Roman uses it is also known as the anthemion (from the Greek ανθέμιον, a flower). It is found in most artistic media, but especially as an architectural ornament, whether carved or painted, and painted on ceramics. It is very often a component of the design of a frieze or border. The complex evolution of the palmette was first traced by Alois Riegl in his Stilfragen of 1893. The half-palmette, bisected vertically, is also a very common motif, found in many mutated and vestigial forms, and especially important in the development of plant-based scroll ornament.