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Lot Essay
In Spain, closed to Santiago de Compostela there is the Palacio de Oca, a 12th century fortress with magnificent gardens. Inside, hanging on the entrance wall, you can find a portrait of Ana María de Sevilla y Villanueva, XIV Marchioness of Camarasa upon her marriage to Jacobo Gayoso de los Cobos y Tellez-Girón. She is painted wearing a lavish blue dress revealing her shoulders and highlighting a beautiful single drop pearl pendent necklace.
The Ana María pearl is said to date back to the beginning of 16th century, during the reign of King Charles V of Spain and Isabella of Portugal, and to have been part of the Spanish crown treasures, probably fished during Hernán Cortés’ conquest of the Aztec empire.
Don Francisco de los Cobos (1477-1547), a Camarasa ancestor, was one of the most influential men of his time in Spain. Thanks to his strategic vision, Charles V appointed him General Secretary of his Empire and he became his main adviser. For several years, he directed the affairs of the government.
The King is thought to have passed the original brooch set with three pearls, a carved emerald and diamonds on to his Secretario Universal and his spouse Maria de Mendoza and Pimentel, daughter of the Count of Ribadavia, whose son Diego de los Cobos was the first Marques de Camarasa.
Unfortunately, the brooch was said to have been taken apart over the years; today only the central pearl and the carved emerald remain.
The pearl was passed from generation to generation, from mother to daughter, and has remained in the Family throughout. Ana María bequeathed it to her elder daughter Francisca de Borja Gayoso de los Cobos, XV Marchioness of Camarasa, who herself passed it on to her daughter Maria Josefa Fernández de Henestrosa y Gayoso de los Cobos, who became Marchioness of Cilleruelo when she married Don Pablo Martinez Del Rio y Vinent from one of the most prominent Mexican families of the 19th century.
Maria Josefa, the grand-mother of the present owner, was a very elegant woman and was photographed in Vogue in July 1941. From the 1960s the Ana María pearl and emerald were worn together with the brooch-watch.
The Ana María pearl is said to date back to the beginning of 16th century, during the reign of King Charles V of Spain and Isabella of Portugal, and to have been part of the Spanish crown treasures, probably fished during Hernán Cortés’ conquest of the Aztec empire.
Don Francisco de los Cobos (1477-1547), a Camarasa ancestor, was one of the most influential men of his time in Spain. Thanks to his strategic vision, Charles V appointed him General Secretary of his Empire and he became his main adviser. For several years, he directed the affairs of the government.
The King is thought to have passed the original brooch set with three pearls, a carved emerald and diamonds on to his Secretario Universal and his spouse Maria de Mendoza and Pimentel, daughter of the Count of Ribadavia, whose son Diego de los Cobos was the first Marques de Camarasa.
Unfortunately, the brooch was said to have been taken apart over the years; today only the central pearl and the carved emerald remain.
The pearl was passed from generation to generation, from mother to daughter, and has remained in the Family throughout. Ana María bequeathed it to her elder daughter Francisca de Borja Gayoso de los Cobos, XV Marchioness of Camarasa, who herself passed it on to her daughter Maria Josefa Fernández de Henestrosa y Gayoso de los Cobos, who became Marchioness of Cilleruelo when she married Don Pablo Martinez Del Rio y Vinent from one of the most prominent Mexican families of the 19th century.
Maria Josefa, the grand-mother of the present owner, was a very elegant woman and was photographed in Vogue in July 1941. From the 1960s the Ana María pearl and emerald were worn together with the brooch-watch.