Overall: 14cm (5.5in) x 20cm (8in)
Provenance: Cornelia, Countess of Craven (1877-1961)
Thence by descent to Thomas Craven, 7th Earl of Craven (1957-1983)
Coronet comprising eight silver-gilt strawberry leaves and eight raised points terminating in eight spherical silver ‘pearls’ denoting the rank of countess, trimmed with ermine and complete with crimson velvet cap and gold bullion, the interior with silk lining and hair pins. Maker’s name Hunt & Roskell, Hallmarked 1902. Contained in its original silk lined morocco fitted case of Hunt & Roskell, late Storr & Mortimer, named to the lid in gilt 'Countess of Craven'.
The present peeress’s coronet was made for the twenty-five year old American heiress Cornelia, Countess of Craven. Unlike a peer’s coronet which fits over the head, it was made to fit within a tiara which in Cornelia’s case was especially noteworthy.
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Cornelia, Countess of Craven was one of the ‘Gilded Age’ American heiresses who married into the British aristocracy. Born in New York City to the philanthropist Bradley Martin and his socially ambitious wife Cornelia Sherman Martin, she married the twenty-four year-old 4th Earl of Craven at the age of sixteen in 1893. They met at Balmacaan, an Inverness-shire estate leased by the Martins from Lady Seafield. As one of the ‘Dollar Princesses’ Cornelia brought Craven an annual income of $75,000 and enabled the purchase of a Mayfair townhouse and the renovation of the ancestral seat Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire. In 1898 she helped her parents organise the famous 17th century-themed Bradley-Martin Ball for 800 guests at the Waldorf Hotel. The costly event was intended to act as an economic stimulus in the city but was condemned by moralisers for its wanton extravagance. Lord Craven died in racing accident at Cowes Week in 1921. Cornelia is remembered as a prominent art and jewel collector.