JANE AUSTEN'S RING - YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

 

From The History Blog:

At the Sotheby’s English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations sale in London this July, a turquoise and gold ring which had once belonged to Jane Austen was purchased for £152,450 ($244,000). As is their wont, Sotheby’s did not release the name of the buyer, but now the buyer has revealed herself. In an interview with British tabloid the Daily Star, singer and first American Idol Kelly Clarkson identified herself as the bidder who won Jane Austen’s ring.

Yes, the ring really did belong to Jane Austen.  But there is a twist to the story.

Unfortunately for Ms. Clarkson, she won’t be wearing Jane’s ring back home. She applied for an export license as required by law, but the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest advised the Secretary of State not to grant it on the grounds that the object is of national importance. With the export ban in place, the item cannot leave British soil. Kelly is going to have to cross an ocean to visit her ring.

I’m sorry for Ms Clarkson's sake, but I think the ring IS a national treasure. I hope Sotheby forewarned her that she might not be able to take the ring out of the country. My suggestion to Ms Clarkson is to donate the ring to the Chawton House Museum in Hampshire, Jane Austen’s last home, where her other jewelry and personal items are on display.  I was fortunate to visit the museum on two occasions a number of years ago, and I recommend it highly.

My earlier post on the ring.

JANE AUSTEN'S RING UP FOR AUCTION

What excitement! (Well, it is for me, as a true, blue, forever fan of dear Jane.) First the painting of the teenager that could be Jane Austen, and now the ring for which the provenance is much more certain.

A turquoise ring which once belonged to Jane Austen is up for auction at Sotheby's next week. But fans of the romantic novelist will need deep pockets if they are to win the rare piece of jewellery, which has a guide price of £20,000 to £30,000.

The turquoise and gold ring came to Sotheby's from Austen's family, complete with a note sent by Jane's sister-in-law, Eleanor Austen, in November 1863, to Jane's niece, Caroline Austen. "My dear Caroline," wrote Eleanor. "The enclosed ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you!"

 Other pieces of jewelry belonging to Jane Austen are on display in Chawton Cottage, her final home until she was moved to Winchester to be nearer to her doctors preceding her death a few months thereafter.

In a display case in the drawing room, for example, is a delicate blue bead bracelet with a gold clasp, which belonged to Jane Austen. It somehow seems to symbolize the refinement of her turn of mind. She may have worn the bracelet to balls when she lived in the resort town of Bath - such as those Catherine Morland had the confused pleasure of attending in ''Northanger Abbey.'' In the same case is the topaz cross given to her by her brother Charles and an ivory-colored miniature similar to one that may have inspired the observation: ''The little bit (two inches wide) of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labor.''

How romantic it would be to think that the young Irishman, Tom Lefroy, with whom she flirted shamelessly, gave her the ring, but, since the box is from a London jeweler, it is much more likely that the ring was given to Jane by her brother Henry, who was a banker in London.  And would it be proper for a young man to whom she was not engaged to be married to give Jane a ring?

As I told Lapin, who sent me the link:

Exciting indeed.  I'd bid on the ring if I had the money to spare, but then what would I do with it?  Alas, my collections no longer interest me much any more as I draw closer to the end of life.  It has dawned that you really can't take them with you, and none of my children are interested, except for furniture and my few pieces of good jewelry, which are not antique collector's items.  

Should one quote oneself on one's blog?  Well, why not?

UPDATE: The beaded bracelet, which would have gone nicely with the ring.  I saw the bracelet when I visited the Chawton Cottage museum.