DIAMOND: LARGE AND FAMOUS STONES 251 



to have been taken by a soldier to Portugal, where it was acquired by the French nobleman 

 de Sancy, who about 1600 sold it to Queen Elizabeth of England. It was carried back to 

 France by Henrietta Maria, the Queen of Charles I., and passed into the possession of 

 Cardinal Mazarin as a pledge. Together with seventeen other large diamonds it was left 

 by the latter to Louis XIV., and in the inventory, made in 1791, of the French crown jewels 

 was valued at 1,000,000 francs. At the time of the Revolution it was stolen in company 

 with the " Regent " (" Pitt ■"), but unlike the latter was not recovered. It reappeared ten 

 years later as the property of the Spanish crown ; from 1828 to 1865 it was in the possession 

 of Prince Demidoff, by whom it was sold for ^£"20,000. It is now said to be the property of 

 the Maharaja of Patiala, and so, after many vicissitudes, to have returned to the land of 

 its origin. So many stories are related of this stone that it seems not improbable that 

 the history of other large diamonds has been confused with that of the " Sancy." It was 

 exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1867, and is figured in Plate XL, Figs. 11a, lib. 



The Nassak diamond derives its name from its long sojourn in the temple to Siva at 

 Nassak on the upper Godavari river. From the possession of the last independent Prince 

 of Peshawar, it passed in 1818 into the hands of the East India Company. At that time 

 it was of an unsymmetrical cut-form and weighed 89J carats ; the form in which it was 

 re-cut, namely, that of a triangular brilliant, is shown in Plate XI., Figs. 13a, 136, 13c. In 

 1831 it was bought for ^£'7200 by Emanuel, a London jeweller, who soon afterwards 

 •disposed of it to the Duke of Westminister, in whose family it still remains. 



The ^impress Eugenie diamond is a beautiful brilliant of unknown origin, 

 weighing 51 carats. It was given by Catharine II. of Russia to her favourite, Potemkin, 

 in whose family it remained until it was acquired by Napoleon III. for a wedding-gift 

 to his bride Eugenie. After the dethronement of the latter it came into the possession 

 of the Gaikwar of Baroda in India. 



The Pigott is a brilliant brought by Lord Pigott from India to England about 

 the year 1775, and afterwards disposed of to Ali Pasha, the Viceroy of Egypt. All 

 trace of this stone has since been lost, and, according to report, it has been destroyed. 

 Its weight is given by Mawe, who saw the stone shortly before it was sold to Ali Pasha, 

 as 49 carats, but other values up to 81| carats have been given at various times. 



The White Saxon Brilliant is one of the most beautiful of known diamonds ; it 

 as square in outline with an edge measuring 1^^ inches in length, and weighs 48f carats. 

 For this stone August the Strong is said lo have paid 1,000,000 thalers. 



The Pasha of Egypt is a fine eight-sided brilliant of 40 carats, purchased by the 

 Viceroy Ibrahim of Egypt for ^28,000. 



The comparatively small diamond known as the Star of Este surpasses in beauty 

 many of those already mentioned. Its intrinsic beauty is absolutely flawless, and the 

 brilliant form in which it is cut is as perfect. Its weight is 25-J^f Viejma carats (5232 

 milligrams), only about half the weight, that is to say, of the "Empress Eugenie" or 

 the " Sancy " diamond. Compared with these stones, however, it does not appear sensibly 

 smaller, so perfect are its proportions and so regular the cutting It is at present in 

 the possession of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austrian-Este, eldest son of the 

 Archduke Karl Ludwig. In 1876 it was valued at 64,000 Austrian florins, a former 

 valuation having been 200,000 to 250,000 francs. 



Excluding the yellow South African diamonds, stones which combine large size with 

 beauty of colour are rare and are all of Indian origin. Of these the following are most 

 famous : 



The Hope Blue diamond is characterised not only by the possession of a beautiful 



