This necklace features a portrait of Françoise d'Aubigné , Marquise de Maintenon, who was secretly married to king Louis XIV of France. (Read more about her below)

This lavishly decorated piece is obviosly inspired by the court fashion of Versailles. On a dark chocolate brown background , I mounted a few filigree antique brass components. More texture is brought in by the hand painted folded shibori silk patch on one side of the portrait and a multitude of floral components on the other. Above and below sit two beautiful blue flashing labradorite stones (read more about their properties below).

The historical piece is a token (a sort of period coin used for local trading) from between 1643-1715 Jeton de Nuremberg) made during the reign of Louis XIV's of France. I did a lot of research for these historical pieces and I bought from verified sellers. I used these coins with the purpose of bringing the energy of the past into these pieces and I would never use one that I would believe is not original to forfeit my original intent. HOWEVER, the coins I used in this collection are not certified and I do not claim with 100% certainty they are real. Nor do I reflect their rarity in the necklace price beyond what I originally purchased them for and the time spent sourcing them.

The portrait in this necklace is a reproduction of Unknown artist. As I mentioned in the Queens Collection description, the portraits used are the last of their kind available. They were painted by two grand artists of Fedoskino art school (lacquer miniature art school outside Moskow), Tatiana Suvorova and Marina Pahomova, both retired. Their style, so suitable for the classic feel of this collection, is not matched by any other active artist of the Russian school, as I have been told by the dealers from which I purchase these portraits for many years.

There is also a hand made lampwork glass flower (from Russia). There are lots of Swarovski crystals and pearls, Czech petal beads. The collar is constructed in embossed dark brown leather with metallic leather trimming.

About the stone: Labradorite is the most powerful protector of the mineral kingdom, creating a shielding force and strengthening natural energies from within. It protects against the negativity and misfortunes of this world and provides safe exploration into alternate levels of consciousness and facilitating visionary experiences from the past or the future. Inuit people claims Labradorite fell from the frozen fire of the Aurora Borealis, an ordinary stone that transforms to the extraordinary, shimmering in a mystical light that separates the waking world from unseen realms..(link to source)

Françoise d'Aubigné (27 November 1635 – 15 April 1719), known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon, was a French noblewoman who secretly married King Louis XIV. Although she was never considered queen of France, she was one of the King's closest advisers and the royal children's governess. In 1684, she founded the Maison royale de Saint-Louis, a school for girls from poorer noble families.(link to source)