Two diamond-encrusted Cartier brooches, depicting a falcon and a white Tudor rose, once owned by millionaire Virginia Courtauld have been acquired by English Heritage, the charity announced today (19 Feb). The brooches – a gift from Virginia’s husband, Stephen, to mark the restoration of their new home, Eltham Palace in London – will go on display for the first time at the palace from today.

Once a favoured medieval palace and then a Tudor royal residence, Eltham Palace was in a state of neglect when it was leased in 1933 to eccentric millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld. Together, the couple transformed it into a lavish home combining Art Deco architecture and state of the art technology, while retaining and restoring the magnificent surviving great hall built for Edward IV in the 1470s. Perhaps to celebrate the completion of their new home, Stephen commissioned and presented Virginia with two brooches in 1937 which depicted the cyphers of Edward IV; the White Rose of York upon the starburst of Richard II, known as Rose en Soleil, and the Falcon and Fetterlock. The falcon is set with single cut diamonds and the background of the brooch is half set with cross-hatched pink tourmaline gems and half with striking blue sapphires, while the rose is within a sunburst surround, set with single cut diamonds and a yellow citrine centre, its background is similarly half set with pink tourmaline and blue sapphires. The brooches also mimic stained glass windows in the great hall which the Courtaulds commissioned to include Edward IV’s same cyphers – possibly to reflect Eltham as one of the monarch’s favourite royal residences. The newly acquired brooches are now on public display for the first time.

Kevin Booth, English Heritage’s Head Collections Curator, said: “Virginia Courtauld’s beautiful, Cartier diamond and gem set brooches epitomise the glamorous, modern spirit that Stephen and Virginia brought to Eltham Palace when they restored and extended it in the 1930s. The brooches perfectly bring together the old in the form of Edward IV’s cyphers, and the new with a 1930s palette of pink tourmaline and blue sapphire – which is exactly what Virginia and Stephen set out to do at Eltham. The brooches are not only significant as pieces of high-quality Cartier workmanship, but as a deeply personal gift from husband to wife. It’s wonderful that they have found their way home.”

By the early 1930s, Cartier was a well-established presence in London and was especially popular amongst fashionable society. Cartier had first opened a London boutique in 1902 and received a royal warrant in 1904. Brooches such as these had considerable appeal because of the variety of ways they could be worn; they could be clipped to a hat or headpiece or used to secure the neckline or shoulder strap of evening wear. These brooches are likely to have been worn by Virginia Courtauld while the couple entertained, making this acquisition even more pertinent in binding together the histories of the great hall, the restoration, the Courtaulds, and the lives they lived at Eltham Palace.

English Heritage became an independent charity in 2015 and now relies more and more on the generosity of its members, visitors, and local communities to support its work. Urgent donations are needed to help care for and better understand over 1,000,000 historic artefacts, such as the Eltham brooches. To support the Million and More appeal, visit: www.english-heritage.org.uk/millionandmore

The Courtauld Cartier brooches were purchased at Dreweatts auction with a generous grant from Art Fund, and a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation. The brooches are on display at Eltham Palace from 19 February.