Ira von Fürstenberg 'knows how to reinvent the past for today, creating a magical artistic vision where the Renaissance meets a nineteenth century Orientalist take on the Roman Empire, all under the watchfull gaze of Buddha. Vogue Paris February 2014 Born in Rome to Price Tassilo zu Fürstenberg, socialite and poliglot, and Clara Agnelli, sister of well-known industrialist Gianni. Her Serene Highness Princess Virginia Carolina Tereza Pancrezia Galdina von Fürstenberg travelled around the world from an early age. She had lived in Paris before returning to Rome, where she pursued an acting career from the 1960s until the 1980s and established her fame as an icon of glamour and style. In 1976 she was appointed president of the Italian branch of the cosmetic firm Germaine Monteil and in 1978 she became director of Valentino's perfume division. Frédéric Mitterrand, former French Minister of Culture and Communication, described her as 'one of the brilliant personalities of the international scene, supporter of charitable causes'(Napoleone, 2014). In her book Princesse et Rebelle (Paris 1995) Princess Ira concluded that whilst a marriage can be ageeable to a woman, she valued her liberty over security and decided to realise a life-long dream of creating objets d'art made of precious and semi- precious materials. Not surprisigly from a direct descendant of the celebrated English collector of works of art, patron and connioisseur William Beckford (1760-1844), she has always loved objets. As a young girl she collected tobacco boxes; later she collected Scottish Tartanware, on witch she published a book in 1996; and since around 1993 she began making her own objects, her objets uniques. These were innitialy intended as personalized presents, such as vermeil boxes found at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, into wich she inserted antique bronze medals. In the mid-1900s she worked with a bronze foundry and cabinetmakers in Rome to create objects of her own designs. Such was the extent of her creativity that by 1995 she had produced no fewer than 140 objects and over the course of twenty years around 2000 works, comprising boxes, paper knives frames, bowls, vide- poches, purses, and exceptional centrepieces. Based on antique elements brought back from her travels, her creations are brought to life by her vivid imagination. Princess Ira is driven by an urge to explore new horizons and her objects are inspired by the many countries she has visited. They unite her talents as a visionary artist with her reputation as a true cosmopolitan, 'modern and non- conformist'(Napoleone, 2012). Combining artistic skill with originality, precious materials and ocasionaly humorous elements, her objects reflect the aesthetic instincts and intelect of their originator. Initially she experimented with the natural treasures of the sea: nautilus shells and branches of coral. She was then drawn to the intense colours of semi- precious stones, such as malachite, lapis lazuli, cornelian, chalcedony and jasper. Later she developed a particular fondness for rock crystal: whilist cold to the touch, it has been considered magical and cathartic since the dawn of civilization. She describes it as 'an extremly rewarding material, it looks alive. Its transparency makes it apear floating and solid at the same time.' The catalogue Ira von Fürstenberg, Crystal (2009) exemplifies her work in this medium. She also favors quartz, porphyry, jade, gold, silver and gilt bronze. Princess Ira works with African artisans in Madagascar, but also with skilled craftsman from Brazil and China who carve the rock crystal into beasts, geometrical cups and frames, as well as botanical forms. The items which are crafted under her guidance are often adorned with silver, gold, or in gilt-bronze settings, inlaid with stones, by Italian goldsmiths. Since 1993 she has exhibited her art objects in Europe: London, Paris, Geneva, Athens, Monaco and Milan; in the United States: Palm Beach, Los Angeles, and New-York; and more recently in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. Her first exhibition in Monaco of her Objets Uniques series was opened in 2002 under the patronage of HSH Prince Rainer III of Monaco and was since also shown in Gstaad, SwitzerLand, Jakarta, Indonesia, Beirut, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Milan, Paris and more recently, Istanbul. Numerous noteworthy collectors have acquired Princess Ira's objets unique across the globe, including the former King Juan Carlos of Spain; in a photograph taken while he signed his abdication at Zarzuela Palace, Madrid, on 2 June 2014, one of her rock crystal bowls is visible on his desk. Her objects have also had great success at charitable auctions: Princess Ira donated a malachite box monted with gilt-bronze Romanov eagle to Romanov, Party for a Purpose at ArtisTree, TaiKoo Place, Hong Kong in support of the Hong Kong Cancer Fund in March 2013; it raised 100.000 HK dollars. At a dinner hosted by Dominique Ouattara, First Lady of Ivory Coast, to benefit the Children of Africa charity, two of Ira von Fürstenberg's rock crystal elephants were sold for 328.000 Euros, raising money for a new hospital. She participated in the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt in New York in April 2014, where her marble egg mounted with two gilt-bronze crocodiles (no 22) was auctioned, raising more money for charitable causes. After the successful exhibition Objets Uniques, Sacro e Profano at the Museum Bagatti Valsecchi, Milan, in September 2013, Ira von Fürstenberg's works of art were shown at the Musée Jacquemart-André , Paris, from 13 February to 2 March 2014. Both exhibitions were curated by the stage designer Pier Luigi Pizzi and focused on liturgical and mystical objects - The Sacred and Profane - including crucifixes, chalices, cups, ciboria, candle holders, skulls and Buddha heads. The exhibitions also contained objects representing the exotic bestiary of the Nile, the ancient river of Egypt, and low reliefs inspired by those of Byzantine Venice. The objects were made of rock crystal, coral, rare marbles and semi- precious and precious stones with symbol-laden gilt or silvered mounts, such as guardian angels, crown of thornes, or barbed wire. As Pricess Ira stated, 'all of the holy contains the profane and vice-versa.' Pricess Ira creates her own symbolic Wunderkammer. 'There is a whole world enclosed in these rooms,' Princess Ira commented on the display at the Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, and the 'exhibition reflects my desire to discover and share. [...] I have seen and lived among beautiful things, and that is a privilege, but it is also a spring board to do something different, to build something of your own, that says something about yourself, in absolute freedom.'