Royal splash to highlight museum

The Mohamed Ali family jewels are to be placed on display at the Royal Jewellery Museum in Alexandria after spending nearly six decades locked in the treasury of the Central Bank of Egypt, Nevine El-Aref reports

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The jewellery, which has been preserved in 45 wooden crates since the 1952 Revolution, will be handed over to a committee of experts from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), which in turn will inspect and if necessary restore it.

The Royal Jewellery Museum is housed in a two-storey palace built in 1923 in an Italian architectural style for Princess Fatma El-Zahraa, a member of the Mohamed Ali family. The foyer is a grandiose affair with soft, deep burgundy, carpets and carved and gilded ceilings. A marble staircase sweeps up to the first floor.

The walls are decorated with portraits of members of the Mohamed Ali family with a brief description of each personality. The ceilings of each room are painted by Egyptian, Italian and French artists and depict tales from Greek mythology, while the ceilings on the second floor depict details of famous French and Italian love stories.

Even the bathrooms on both floors are true works of art. These and the corridors leading to them are lined with small pieces of white porcelain, while the walls are painted with swimming nymphs, images from the well-known Fables of La Fontaine, and fairytales.

The highlight of the museum is the wonderful stained glass panels in the main hall of the first floor, in the stairwell, and in the first-floor bathroom. The most famous French artists of the time were commissioned to create these masterpieces, which recount more tales from European love stories.

The most important pieces in the collection are the royal crowns and tiaras. The most beautiful of all is the tiara that belonged to the wife of King Fouad and is set with 2,159 first grade diamonds and priceless white pearls. King Farouk's personal toilet set, also a masterpiece, replicates crystal bottles capped with pure gold lids embossed with the royal coat of arms, all gracefully perched on a gold tray.