Esterhazy Marriage Collar

Description This elegant, jeweled wedding collar (incomplete) was reputedly worn by the scion of a powerful Hungarian noble family allied with the Habsburgs, Palatine Miklos Esterhazy, at his wedding in 1611. The design evokes a stylized flower garland interspersed with references to love and marriage, including right hands clasped around a heart (union based on good faith and love), doves (affection), cornucopias (prosperity), and forget-me-nots (loyalty). Such a piece of ritual jewelry could be valued as a striking symbol of the fundamental importance of marital alliances to the Habsburgs. The associated ornament has two hooks on the back for fastening it to clothing.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
6/01/1983	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
6/17/1983	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
11/23/1987	Examination	examined for condition
2/17/1988	Treatment	examined for exhibition; mounted
4/26/2001	Treatment	repaired
4/01/2005	Treatment	cleaned
4/28/2005	Treatment	cleaned

Exhibitions

• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• Objects of Adornment: Five Thousand Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. 1984-1987.
• Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1987.

Provenance Counts Esterhazy, by inheritance; Bishop Sigismund Bubics (Zsigmund Bubics) of Kaschau (Kosice), by purchase; Jacques Seligmann, Paris (No. 101 in French Sale); Henry Walters, 1923, by purchase; Sadie Jones (Mrs Henry Walters), 1931, by inheritance; Sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, May 1, 1941, no. 1289; Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase [formerly part of the Walters Collection], 1941