Happy Tiara Tuesday everyone! This week, we bring you a tiara from the family of the Duke of Bedford, named the Tavistock Amethyst Tiara after a subsidiary title of the Bedford dukedom.
Originally this tiara started as just the center amethyst with the surrounding diamonds, but around 1870 the piece was converted into a tiara, adding the extra amethysts and diamond grape leaves. It's not known for sure which member of the family had the tiara constructed, but it is a beautiful piece regardless!
It's thought that the tiara is a tribute to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. The purple of the amethysts is reminiscent of grapes, and the surrounding diamond set grape leaf motifs only furthers the feeling of a wreath made of grape vines! "Amethyst" roughly translates to "not intoxicated" in Greek and the Greeks believed if you wore amethysts you could not become drunk! Very fitting for Dionysus, as he would surely need some mighty amethysts to maintain sobriety.
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Thanks for reading and have a wonderful Tiara Tuesday!
