Tiara (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The empress, attired in a white and silver dress, stands beside the imperial crown and wears a parure of diamonds comprising tiara, comb, girandole (three-drop)..." (more)
Key Phrases: tiara rests, laurel tiara, stylized buds, New York, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, Aga Khan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The tiara has played a glittering role in the lives of the elegant and extravagant--from the doe-eyed Audrey Hepburn in the film classic Roman Holiday to generations of England's royal family--representing the height of sophisticated glamour. Worn for centuries by nobility and high society, tiaras are enjoying renewed popularity among today's movie stars and modern brides. Created in conjunction with an exhibition of tiaras at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this magnificent volume showcases more than 75 of the world's most exquisite tiaras adorned with everything from delicate feathers to ornately decorated, gold fleur-di-lis scrollwork set in diamonds, pearls, and sapphires. An essay by Diana Scarisbrick, curator of the exhibition, traces the tiara's history, and dozens of photographs show tiaras worn by Russian princesses, British royalty, American socialites, and many others. Taking a lighter, popular culture approach to a traditionally high fashion subject, Tiara will delight aficionados as well as those less familiar with the tiara's artistry, who will be astonished by the array of styles, shapes, and showstoppers from around the world.

About the Author

Diana Scarisbrick is curator of the Spring 2000 exhibition Crowning Glories: Two Centuries of Tiaras at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. An art historian specializing in the history of jewelry and cameo cutting, she is the author of four books on historic and fine jewelry. She lives in London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811827178
• ISBN-13: 978-0811827171
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #729,234 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tiaras forever, March 17, 2000

By	D. Maier "spectraldogs" (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I ordered this book and within 3 days I was in my chair buried in the stories of gorgeous jewelled tiaras. I bought the author's other book "Ancestral Jewels" and read it several times a year. It is a "jewel" of a book and I loved the personal stories of the tiara owners. The author is discreet about provenance of some of the tiaras. This is NOT just a coffee table book. You HAVE to read the stories behind the pieces.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Scarisbrick examination of gorgeous jewels, August 20, 2002

By	Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As I am a big fan of Diana Scarisbrick's "Ancestral Jewels," I was excited to see "Tiara." Although she does a masterful job giving the reader a miniature history of the tiara (especially in its different European forms), I must admit to disappointment at the layout of the book. Dozens upon dozens of photographs of women wearing their tiaras are literally about 1" square (sometimes less, sometimes ever so slightly more). There is so much white space surrounding these photographs that I have to wonder if perhaps there was a misunderstanding among author, editor, and designer.

The latter half of the book fares better, with full-page color photographs of sumptuous tiaras. Scarisbrick shows us mourning tiaras (often constructed of iron, though just as lacy and lovely as their platinum and gold counterparts), brushed gold tiaras, and tairas which break down into sundry bracelets, necklaces, brooches, and stomachers. It's especially fun to see the different tiaras worn for the coronations of King George of England in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth of England in 1953. There is even a photo of Rose Kennedy, whose husband Joe was America's Ambassador to England in the years leading up to World War II. Mrs. Kennedy is pictured in a satin evening gown, wearing a tiara borrowed from a sympathetic English noble friend. An excerpt from her 1974 autobiography notes that when she wore the tiara to court " . . . my children were quite impressed!" One can only imagine.

The range and artistry of the designs is really quite breathtaking. It's just too bad that more care wasn't taken to enlarge the photographs of the women wearing their tiaras, as there's so much interesting interplay of fashion and tradition there.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This book could have been easily so much better, October 21, 2001

By	K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Tiara's are facinating pieces of jewellery. They sit on the head like a halo and bring to life the myths of royalty, aristocracy and an apparent lifestyle of unlimited money.

This book presents a stunning array of Tiara's with many photos that you would be hard pressed to find in any other book.

Having said that, it is the photos which let this book down, not the text which is very interesting in it's self. Each Tiara is photographed in colour, but they appear to have been cut out from their photographed background and superimposed on the book's creme page background. This gives the Tiara's a feeling of slight unreality and flattens them out taking away their 3D reality.

There is also a facinating array of photos of people actually wearing these Tiaras, and it would be worth buying the book for that alone, except the majority of these pictures are produced at thumbnail size or stamp and you need a magnifiying glass to see them well. A shame as it wastes amazing photo research, and does not enable me to see well photos I otherwise would have been astonished to see.

Having said all this, if you have any interest in Tiara's or jewellery history this book is a must, but beware of it's shortcomings. An exhibition cataloge it must have been stunning to see this array "in the flesh".