http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7148727,00.htmlMarie Antoinette's Pearls Fail to Sell
Thursday December 13, 2007 2:31 AM
LONDON (AP) - A set of pearls purportedly belonging to Marie Antoinette failed to sell Wednesday, a disappointing outcome for the centerpiece of a ``Magnificent Jewels'' sale at Christie's auction house.
The pearls, which the French queen is said to have given to a British countess for safekeeping after she was imprisoned during the French Revolution, are now part of a necklace also containing rubies and diamonds.
Christie's had hoped the pearls would fetch up to $815,000.
The pearls were given to Elizabeth Leveson-Gower - the wife of the British ambassador to France and the Countess of Sutherland - and were intended to help Marie Antoinette if she managed to flee the country, Christie's said.
However, the former queen never saw the jewels again and was executed by the guillotine in 1793.
The pearls were made into a necklace when Lady Elizabeth's grandson married in 1849 and have remained in the Leveson-Gower family for more than 200 years.