English And Continental Furniture Including The Collection Of Countess Moira Rossi De Montelera 2005 Christie's London
$175
And The London Stock Of H.C. Baxter & Sons
[309] pp.
w/ 475 lots
Christie's London
10 1/2" x 8 1/4"
Fine
Countess Moira Mary Forbes was born in 1910, the eldest of two daughters of the Marchioness of Bute, 8th Earl Granard and Beatrice, his countess who was the daughter of American financier Ogden Mills of Staatsburg, USA. Lady Granard née Ogden Mills, was a frequent patron of Cartier and was described as "the last great buyer of Kokoshniks in London", ordering one in 1922, 1923 and a third in 1937, purchasing versions in seed pearls, diamond drops and a novel combination of aquamarine beads, sapphires and pearls. In 1937 Chips Channon remarked in his diary about a dinner he held in February of 1938 attended by Winston and Mrs Churchill, that "Lady Granard could scarcely walk for jewels". A combination of European aristocracy and American wealth allowed the Countess's daughter to indulge her two passions for horse racing and jewellery, at her homes in London, Paris, Ireland and on the Hudson River. It was her second marriage to Theo Rossi that bestowed on her the exotic title.