#throwbackthursday to this dramatic Gold, Diamond and Simulated Diamond 'Lachrymosa' Mask that's up for sale AGAIN on 17 October at @sothebys! #ElizabethTaylor, the founding national and international chairman of #amfar, donned The Lachrymosa in a #1993 photo shoot designed to generate publicity for the event. NY jewelley designer Henry Dunay was tapped to design a mask that would be sold to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Well-known for his striking and dramatic creations, Dunay allowed himself eight months to craft a piece he deemed worthy of amfAR’s mission. #henrydunay said he met ET on three separate occasions & described her as being gracious & beautiful in person, & very dedicated to her cause. “With the passing of Elizabeth Taylor we have lost an icon of beauty and a lover of fine jewelry,” he said. “She will be missed for her elegance, her beauty and her humanitarian work.” The diamond mask logged quite a few travel miles in the time it belonged to Dunay. In 2008, it went on display at The Antwerp Diamond Museum as part of “Diamond Divas,” an exhibition of jewellery donned by famous women, including screen sirens Marilyn Monroe, Gloria Swanson & Taylor. Sadly, after 50 yrs in the business Dunay filed for bankruptcy in June 2009 & the mask, along with the rest of his jewels, were sold at auction. Set with over 130 carats of diamonds, the mask was lauded by Dunay as something that “would be ideal…at the Smithsonian, saying what it was made for and why it was made.” At some point along its journey, the larger diamonds were replaced with simulants, but the dramatic power of Dunay’s original creation remains. The mask is of foliate design, set with numerous round diamonds, further decorated with round, oval, pear and marquise-shaped simulated diamonds, highlighted by a gold teardrop in reference to the many tears shed over the global scourge of #AIDS. #whatwouldetwear: A VERSACE BEADED EVENING BOLERO JACKET, 'GREEK FACES' LABELED 'ATELIER VERSACE', CIRCA 1992, beaded with rhinestone janus vases and Greek portrait busts, the back with an amber roaring lion. Pic 4 ET is with @williamgoldbergdiamonds who supplied 936 #diamonds #sothebysjewels (presso Villa Lante Bagnaia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGXpY22hHgl/?igshid=vdb85067w6ys