The Bejeweled Pigeon Wing of Marguerite Severine Philippine Decazes
de Glecksberg
Okay. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. But that was her birth
name. not the name by which she was known. The stories abound.
She was a 20th century society figure. She was a beauty. She was
ugly. She was tiny in stature. She was the most daring of fashion
plates of her time. She lived on cocaine and grouse. She existed to
steal other women’s husbands. She was caustic. She was a poet. She
was a novelist. She was a jewelry aficionado.
She had three daughters. The first she described as being like her
first husband. only more masculine. The second she described as
being like her. but without guts. And the third. she was the result
of a liaison with a horrible man.
She was a voracious man-eater. She stole her friends’ husbands and
her daughters’ boyfriends. She seduced many. but failed with one.
Though she tried and tried. she could not get Winston Churchill into
the sack. So she wed his cousin. It is said that she wore so many
jewels that they weighed her body down.
She was known as the most wicked woman of High Society. She was the
embodiment of Thirties chic. She was a destroyer of happy homes. She
was sexually insatiable. And oh yeah. I forgot. She was the Heiress
to the Singer Sewing Machine Empire.
Her second husband was The Hon. Reginald Ailwyn Fellowes. And she
went henceforth by the name of Daisy Fellowes. She was the most
important patron of Elsa Schiaparelli. She was an ever loyal
customer of Cartier.
She was extremely superficial and had more than a touch of
egocentricity imbued in her soul. Once, while walking in a park, she
noticed some beautifully dressed children. She walked over to the
nurse who was watching them and asked; “Whose lovely little children
are these?” To which the nurse snapped back, “Yours, Madame!”
As to vanity. oy vay. (Ancient language for omigosh.) She once
commission a portrait of herself. and after seeing the result. had a
nose job. threw away her entire wardrobe. and started consulting the
couturiers of the day. She was a daring fashion innovator. She once
wore a high-heel shoe-shaped hat at a gathering.
As to her jewelry. it was said that nothing short of the Crown
Jewels could match them. The big name jewelers loved her. Her
well-known sense of the exquisite was legendary. And it is here.
after a bit of a long intro. that I step in to show you a stunner.
owned by Daisy Fellowes. designed by Ren? Boivin. It is a sapphire
and diamond brooch in the shape of a pigeon wing. created circa
1936… a scant short period of time before I made my screechingly
loud protestations upon entering this world of varied life-forms.
Had I know what I was getting into. I suspect I would have made an
immediate u-turn. doctor’s tenacious grip aside. and re-entered from
whence I came.
So. you wanna see? Hmm?
Okay. You are familiar with the rest. Yes? No? The visit to the
image… also known as the viewing experience. You know where. Home
page. http://www.tyler-adam.com. Scroll down. Left side. Tidbits.
Click. And there for your sensory optic pleasure you will see a
gorgeous bejeweled pigeon wing created by Ren? Boivin and worn by
Daisy Fellowes.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all
next week.
Benjamin Mark
