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Sévigné

Nanette Kaula Wearing a Sévigné Brooch. By J.K. Stieler, 1829.
Nanette Kaula Wearing a Sévigné Brooch. By J.K. Stieler, 1829.
Georgian Diamond and Yellow Gold Sévigné.
Georgian Diamond and Yellow Gold Sévigné.
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné by Claude Lefebvre.
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné by Claude Lefebvre.

A sévigné is a type of bow brooch that was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and named for a member of the French Court of Louis XIV, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné (1626 – 1696). It was originally a flat, symmetrical ribbon bow that was worn centered low on the bodice. Later examples became more elaborate, asymmetrical and dimensional, sometimes suspending gemstones or pearls in a girandole style.

The French painter Claude Lefebvre immortalized the Marquise wearing such a sévigné in a painting that currently hangs in the Musée Carnavalet, Rue de Sévigné, Paris.

Nanette Kaula Wearing a Sévigné Brooch. By J.K. Stieler, 1829.
Nanette Kaula Wearing a Sévigné Brooch. By J.K. Stieler, 1829.
Georgian Diamond and Yellow Gold Sévigné.
Georgian Diamond and Yellow Gold Sévigné.
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné by Claude Lefebvre.
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné by Claude Lefebvre.
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