#6599, Florence Sara Wilhelmine Brinsley SHERIDAN

Florence was the daughter of a wealthy banker and great granddaughter of the famous playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1819).  His 2 best loved plays were The Rivals (1775) and School for Scandal (1777); he was an MP and for a while Treasurer of the Navy.  She was Treasurer to Queen Victoria's household.

In our picture Lady Poltimore is seem wearing the Poltimore Tiara created for her by the House of Garrard in 1870. Made of silver and gold, featuring cushion-shaped and old-cut diamond clusters alternating with diamond-set scroll motifs it was designed to convert into a fringe necklace and 11 separate brooches using specialized fittings.

Years later, in 1959 Princess Margaret bought the tiara from the 4th baron at auction for £5,500 and wore on May 6th 1960 for her marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones (later Lord Snowdon) in Westminster Abbey.  Famously, in 1962 he photographed the princess wearing her tiara in the bath.  A photograph which remained unpublished until 2006.

Following her death her children put the tiara up for sale at Christie's in 2006 where it fetched $1.7 million.  The purchaser and the current location of the tiara remain unknown.