Portrait of Mrs. Walsh McLean (1910s)
Portrait of Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean. My coloriztion of a photo by Harris & Ewing in the Library of Congress archive. The library does not give any date (except for the timeframe 1895 - 1925). To me it is quite clear that this photo was taken after Mrs. McLean´s marriage in 1908, probably in the 1910s.
"Evalyn Walsh McLean (August 1, 1886 – April 26, 1947) was an American mining heiress and socialite who was famous for being the last private owner of the 45-carat (9.0 g) Hope Diamond (which was bought in 1911 for $180,000 from Pierre Cartier), as well as another famous diamond, the 94-carat (18.8 g) Star of the East. She also authored the memoir, Father Struck It Rich, together with Boyden Sparkes."
"Evalyn was born on August 1, 1886, in Leadville, Colorado, the only daughter of Carrie Bell Reed, a former schoolteacher, and Thomas Walsh, an Irish immigrant miner and prospector. She had one sibling, a brother, Vinson Walsh (1888–1905), who died in a car accident in Newport, Rhode Island, when he was 17 years old. When she was twelve years old, her father discovered a gold mine and became a multimillionaire. The family moved to a large mansion on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C. At the age of fourteen, Evalyn moved to Paris for singing lessons. Instead she lived a wild life, coloring her hair and drinking alcohol. She began adding rouge to her cheeks to adopt the look of prostitutes." --
"In 1908, she married Edward "Ned" Beale McLean, the son of John Roll McLean and heir to The Washington Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer publishing fortune. They had four children:" --
"On January 28, 1911, in a deal made in the offices of The Washington Post, McLean's husband purchased the Hope Diamond for $189,000 (equivalent to $4,939,000 in 2019) from Pierre Cartier of Cartier Jewelers in New York. The Hope Diamond was traditionally associated with a curse, but no tragic events befell the couple until eight years later. Due to the rumors of a curse, Evalyn's friends, and her mother-in-law, urged her to sell it back, but Cartier refused to buy it."
(Wikipedia)
After the death Evelyn Walsh McLean, the Hope Diamond - one of the most famous jewels in the world - and her other jewels were bought by Harry Winston:
."It was purchased in 1949 by New York gem merchant Harry Winston, who toured it for a number of years before giving it to the National Museum of Natural History of the United States in 1958, where it has since remained on permanent exhibition."
(Wikipedia)
The Hope Diamond is said to have been insured for $250 million.
Portrait of Mrs. Walsh McLean (1910s)
Portrait of Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean. My coloriztion of a photo by Harris & Ewing in the Library of Congress archive. The library does not give any date (except for the timeframe 1895 - 1925). To me it is quite clear that this photo was taken after Mrs. McLean´s marriage in 1908, probably in the 1910s.
"Evalyn Walsh McLean (August 1, 1886 – April 26, 1947) was an American mining heiress and socialite who was famous for being the last private owner of the 45-carat (9.0 g) Hope Diamond (which was bought in 1911 for $180,000 from Pierre Cartier), as well as another famous diamond, the 94-carat (18.8 g) Star of the East. She also authored the memoir, Father Struck It Rich, together with Boyden Sparkes."
"Evalyn was born on August 1, 1886, in Leadville, Colorado, the only daughter of Carrie Bell Reed, a former schoolteacher, and Thomas Walsh, an Irish immigrant miner and prospector. She had one sibling, a brother, Vinson Walsh (1888–1905), who died in a car accident in Newport, Rhode Island, when he was 17 years old. When she was twelve years old, her father discovered a gold mine and became a multimillionaire. The family moved to a large mansion on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C. At the age of fourteen, Evalyn moved to Paris for singing lessons. Instead she lived a wild life, coloring her hair and drinking alcohol. She began adding rouge to her cheeks to adopt the look of prostitutes." --
"In 1908, she married Edward "Ned" Beale McLean, the son of John Roll McLean and heir to The Washington Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer publishing fortune. They had four children:" --
"On January 28, 1911, in a deal made in the offices of The Washington Post, McLean's husband purchased the Hope Diamond for $189,000 (equivalent to $4,939,000 in 2019) from Pierre Cartier of Cartier Jewelers in New York. The Hope Diamond was traditionally associated with a curse, but no tragic events befell the couple until eight years later. Due to the rumors of a curse, Evalyn's friends, and her mother-in-law, urged her to sell it back, but Cartier refused to buy it."
(Wikipedia)
After the death Evelyn Walsh McLean, the Hope Diamond - one of the most famous jewels in the world - and her other jewels were bought by Harry Winston:
."It was purchased in 1949 by New York gem merchant Harry Winston, who toured it for a number of years before giving it to the National Museum of Natural History of the United States in 1958, where it has since remained on permanent exhibition."
(Wikipedia)
The Hope Diamond is said to have been insured for $250 million.