My #birthdayring #sapphire & diamond from the #regencyperiod evoking #ElizabethMontagu known as #queenoftheblues such was the fame of her #Mayfair Blue-Stocking Salons in the 1740-1770's attended by artistic luminaries such as #AngelicaKauffman #LordByron #joshuareynolds & patrons such as #QueenCharlotte As famous on the continent as in Mayfair #LordByron brought #madamedestael to witness the lavish splendour of her Mayfair salon where poets artists & composers performed & discoursed with #philosophers & #royalty. Her first salons were held at her house on #HillStreet - one of my favourite routes to #BondSt from my flat on #MountSt. I imagine #IgnatiusSancho the great composer who wrote the musical backdrop of Regency England - even the #King hummed his tunes & Gainsborough painted him twice - one with his patron Lady Montagu & once alone in as the great composer of Regency dance music. #JaneAustin would have danced & played his music because every tune he wrote was a bestseller. Ignatius was born on a #slaveship & his own father committed suicide rather than endure his fate as a slave. Ignatius is encapsulates the transformative power of #Mayfair which was created in the 1660's as a haven for lovers of, & creators of art beauty & pleasure. Ignatius was both a lover of & creator of beauty & art. In fact he blew his first inheritance from Lady Montagu on Dandy attire which meant he had to return to work as a butler for her daughter. When the second lady Montagu died leaving him a legacy he purchased a grocers on Charles St, married Anne Osbourne & raised five children. He had a love of finely made jewellery equal to his love of finely tailored clothes & would have delighted in my Saphire & diamond ring. He is the Mayfair Patron Saint of all those whose appreciation & purchase of exquisite jewellery & attire exceeds their income. When I look at my birthday gift to myself, I shall think of all the Mayfair Blue-stocking #Saloniers from #angelicakauffman my favourite artist & #IgnatiusSancho the great #composer #dandy #bluestocking & grocer of #CharlesSt #Mayfair who continues to shine brightly from the 1700's as both a lover of, & a creator of, fine art & beaut (at Mount Street Mayfair)
