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A Verdura unicorn brooch with royal provenance and a deeply personal connection to its maker goes under the hammer at Elmwood\u2019s in London on Aug. 19<\/a>, estimated at \u00a320,000 to \u00a330,000<\/a> (approximately $26,900 to $40,300).<\/p>\n The piece belonged to Virginia Fortune Ryan Ogilvy, Dowager Countess of Airlie, who died in August 2024 at 91 after serving as a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II for nearly five decades. The first American lady-in-waiting, she was born into one of New York\u2019s most prominent Gilded Age families: Her maternal grandfather was financier Otto Hermann Kahn and her paternal great-grandfather, industrialist Thomas Fortune Ryan.<\/p>\n Virginia married Lord Ogilvy in 1952 at a Westminster ceremony attended by the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. She was appointed to her royal position in 1973 and remained at the Queen\u2019s side until the monarch\u2019s death in 2022, accompanying her on state visits including the 2007 Jamestown anniversary trip to the United States and the 2018 reception of President and Melania Trump at Windsor Castle.<\/p>\n What distinguishes this brooch beyond its owner is the nature of her connection to its maker. Fulco di Verdura, the Sicilian-born designer who worked alongside Coco Chanel in Paris before establishing his own New York house in 1939, was a family friend going back to Virginia\u2019s childhood. Her mother and aunt were close to Verdura from at least 1923.<\/p>\n Virginia herself was among the very few people permitted to visit the designer\u2019s studio and watch him work. According to Patricia Corbett\u2019s biography Verdura: The Life and Work of a Master Jeweler, Virginia would stop in on her way home from school. That kind of access to one of the 20th century\u2019s most celebrated jewelry designers is not something that comes with most lots.<\/p>\n The brooch depicts a unicorn\u2019s head emerging from a cabochon turquoise\u2013set crown, with a pear-shaped diamond fringe, a diamond-set horn, and a brilliant-cut diamond flower held in the unicorn\u2019s mouth\u2014approximately 1.10 cts. t.w. of diamonds in total, signed Verdura. The unicorn was a recurring Verdura motif, with the designer drawing inspiration from folk carvings on early American carousels.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an exceptional Verdura jewel, but what makes it particularly fascinating is the very personal story behind it,\u201d said Joe Kendrick, head of sale at Elmwood\u2019s, in a statement.<\/p>\n The sale takes place Aug. 19 at Elmwood\u2019s, London.<\/p>\n (Photo courtesy of Elmwood\u2019s)<\/p>\n Follow me on Instagram:\u00a0@anniedavidsonwatson<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t