Hope Diamond
According to the legend, a curse befell the large, blue diamond when it
was plucked (i.e. stolen) from an idol in India - a curse that foretold bad
luck and death not only for the owner of the diamond but for all who touched
it.
Whether or not you believe in the curse, the Hope diamond has intrigued
people for centuries. Its perfect quality, its large size, and its rare color
make it strikingly unique and beautiful.
Add to this a varied history which includes being owned by King Louis
XIV, stolen during the French Revolution, sold to earn money for gambling, worn
to raise money for charity, and then finally donated to the Smithsonian
Institution. The Hope diamond is truly unique.
Is there really a curse? Where has the Hope diamond been? Why was such a
valuable gem donated to the Smithsonian?
Taken from the Forehead of an Idol
The legend is said to begin with a theft. Several centuries ago, a man
named Tavernier made a trip to India. While there, he stole a large blue
diamond from the forehead (or eye) of a statue of the Hindu goddess Sita. For
this transgression, according to the legend, Tavernier was torn apart by wild
dogs on a trip to Russia (after he had sold the diamond). This was the first
horrible death attributed to the curse.
How much of this is true? In 1642 a man by the name of Jean Baptiste
Tavernier, a French jeweler who traveled extensively, visited India and bought
a 112 3/16 carat blue diamond. (This diamond was much larger than the present weight of the Hope
diamond because the Hope has been cut down at least twice in the past three
centuries.) The diamond is believed to have come from the Kollur mine in
Golconda, India.
Tavernier continued to travel and
arrived back in France in 1668, twenty-six years after he bought the large,
blue diamond. French King Louis XIV, the "Sun King," ordered
Tavernier presented at court. From Tavernier, Louis XIV bought the large, blue
diamond as well as forty-four large diamonds and 1,122 smaller diamonds.
Tavernier was made a noble and died at he age 84 in Russia (it is not known how
he died).
According to Susanne Patch, author of Blue Mystery: The Story of the Hope Diamond, the shape
of the diamond was unlikely to have been an eye (or on the forehead) of an
idol.
In 1673, King Louis XIV decided to re-cut the diamond to enhance its
brilliance (the previous cut had been to enhance size and not brilliance). The
newly cut gem was 67 1/8 carats. Louis XIV officially named it the "Blue
Diamond of the Crown" and would often wear the diamond on a long ribbon
around his neck.
In 1749, Louis XIV's great-grandson,
Louis XV, was king and ordered the crown jeweler to make a decoration for the
Order of the Golden Fleece, using the blue diamond and the Cote de Bretagne (a
large red spinel thought at the time to be a ruby). The resulting decoration
was extremely ornate and large.
Stolen!
When Louis XV died, his grandson, Louis XVI, became king with Marie Antoinette as his queen. According to the legend, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were beheaded during the French
Revolution because of the blue diamond's curse.
Considering that
King Louis XIV and King Louis XV had both owned and worn the blue diamond a
number of times and have not been set down in legend as tormented by the curse,
it is difficult to say that all those who owned or touched the gem would suffer
an ill fate. Though it is true that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were
beheaded, it seems that it had much more to do with their extravagance and the
French Revolution than a curse on the diamond. Plus, these two royals were
certainly not the only ones beheaded during the Reign of Terror.
During the French
Revolution, the crown jewels (including the blue diamond) were taken from the
royal couple after they attempted to flee France in 1791. The jewels were
placed in the Garde-Meuble but were not well guarded.
From September 12 to
September 16, 1791, the Garde-Meuble was repeatedly robbed, without notice from
officials until September 17. Though most of the crown jewels were soon
recovered, the blue diamond was not.
Why is it called the "Hope diamond"?
There is some evidence that the blue diamond resurfaced in
London by 1813 and was owned by a jeweler Daniel Eliason by 1823. No one is
sure that the blue diamond in London was the same one stolen from the
Garde-Meuble because the one in London was of a different cut. Yet, most people
feel the rarity and perfectness of the French blue diamond and the blue diamond
that appeared in London makes it likely that someone re-cut the French blue
diamond in the hopes of hiding its origin. The blue diamond that surfaced in
London was estimated at 44 carats.
There is some
evidence that shows King George IV of England bought the blue diamond from
Daniel Eliason and upon King George's death, the diamond was sold to pay off
debts.
By 1939, possibly earlier, the blue diamond was in the
possession of Henry Philip Hope, from whom the Hope diamond has taken its name.
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