In collaboration with High Life: Living the Good Life, VOICE OF ASIA is proud to present timeless articles from the archives, reproduced digitally for your reading pleasure. Originally published in High Life Volume 2 in 2015, we take a look at the most iconic gifts, not merely in monetary value, but also sentimental and artistic value too.
To be able to afford an expensive gift purchased in honour of someone else, is an unquestionable true mark of luxury. The best gifts are the ones that are not just outrageously extravagant, but are filled with meaning, thoughtfulness, and of course, show true affection for the receiver of the present. For example, artwork that beckons the viewer for a second look, a monument that is an elaborate tombstone for a loved one, or even a best-selling song that was meant to comfort another. HIGH Life looks at the best gifts remembered throughout history for their lavishness, still around today, standing the test of time, indicating a value beyond mere numbers.
Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend – The Taylor-Burton Diamond
A rare, priceless diamond bought for a beautiful movie star… it’s a story legends are made of and the glorious Taylor- Burton diamond is certainly something to marvel over.
When Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor met in 1961, sparks flew, yet both were married. This resulted in a Hollywood scandal as the world discovered their affair. They later divorced their respective partners and got married three years later. He then gifted her a 69.42-carat pear shaped diamond that was worth a massive $US1.1 million, which made international headlines at the time. Today, that value sits at just over $US7 million.
The diamond had quite the prestigious backstory, having been originally found in the Premier Mine in 1966, before being bought by the famous jeweller Harry Winston. The following year it was sold to the sister of the American ambassador to the United Kingdom, Walter Annenberg, before being auctioned in New York. Both Burton and a representative of Cartier were present at the auction, but he was outbid by Cartier, who renamed the gem the ‘Cartier Diamond.’ Determined to obtain the jewel, Burton called up Cartier, negotiated a price, and that was how the diamond found itself in the hands of another elite owner, now christened the Taylor-Burton diamond.
Taylor wore the diamond for the first time at the Princess of Monaco’s 40th birthday party, and later at the Academy Awards. Though the diamond – like the fate of many iconic treasures – eventually changed hands, the value is in the thought behind it – a gift of devotion from a loving husband to his beautiful wife. That love which infuses a gift of this calibre, makes it priceless.
Picture Perfect – Las Meninas Painting
Cited as one of history’s greatest mysteries, the Las Meninas painting was a gift from the painter Diego Velázquez (pictured) to King Philip IV of Spain, in 1656, as a token of his friendship and respect, and to celebrate the beauty and grace of the King’s daughter.
Velázquez was the King’s favourite court artist, and this painting was celebrated for its cleverness. Today, he is remembered as one of the greatest painters of Western art. A recently discovered piece of art valued at only £300, was re-valued to an amazing £3 million (US$4.7 million), when it was discovered it was created by the Spanish genius.
In the work of art, the Infanta Margarita, the King’s daughter, is attended to by her maids, the Las Meninas (Spanish for maids of honour).
The viewer experiences a moment of disorientation when first viewing the painting, as several things appear to be happening at once. The picture puts the viewer into the shoes of the King and Queen of Spain, whose mirror image can be seen on the wall behind the Infanta. The centre of the painting, of course is the King’s daughter and Velázquez is celebrating her beauty and her curious, intelligent mind at such a young age, evidenced by her entrance to view the artist, busy at work on a portrait of her parents.
This ‘gift’ of art was indeed well-received by the King, who later expressed his sorrow at the passing of his favourite master painter. Today, the creation is considered a masterpiece, so valuable it has, and never will be sold. It is a prized piece of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. It is acclaimed for its paradoxical nature, been called the ‘theology of painting’ by the Baroque painter Luca Giordano, analysed and interpreted time and time again, and has even been painted 58 times by Picasso, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, as an attempt to comprehend the complexities that can be found within the painting.
Monument of Love – The Taj Mahal
This gift from a husband to a wife is a world-famous monument that tells the story of a love that resonates even beyond departure from this world. Built between 1631 and 1648, the Taj Mahal is a giant white mausoleum that currently stands at Agra District in Uttar Pradesh, in Northern India.
The story goes that the young Shah Jahan, known as Prince Khurram, son of the fourth Mughal emperor of India, was strolling down the royal bazaar when his eye was caught by a young girl selling silk and glass beads. The young girl was a Persian Muslim princess, known as Arjumand Banu Begum. He immediately approached his father and announced he wished to marry the girl, and five years later he did, and the princess was given a new name – Mumtaz Mahal, which translates to ‘Jewel of the Palace.’
Although Shah Jahan had other wives, as was the custom of the time, Mumtaz was his most favoured, and indeed he was so enamoured with his wife, that on her deathbed, he promised he would never marry another. He built a giant white marble mausoleum over her grave, inspired by the description of heaven in the Quran, which cost 500 million rupees, and took a lengthy 22 years and 22,000 labourers to complete. 1,000 elephants were used to transport 28 types of precious stones from across India and Asia. In order to ensure no other building could compare to the beauty of this one, he made a deal with the builders to never design again, in exchange for their lives. After his own death in 1666, his body was placed next to hers in the tomb, and now the building is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, because it is considered a ‘perfect jewel of Muslim art in India.’
With a name that means ‘Crown Palace’, the Taj Mahal is “Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passion of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones,” according to English poet Sir Edwin Arnold, and over 350 years later, is one of the most visited places on earth today, and is estimated to be worth as much as US$10 billion.
Memorable Lullaby – The Song Hey Jude by the Beatles
Sometimes a gift is not necessarily tangible. It can be a poetically composed piece of music, as is the case of the classic rock band The Beatles and their perennial fan favourite Hey Jude, which was released in 1968.
Created for John Lennon’s son, Julian, to comfort him during his parent’s divorce, the song was originally titled ‘Hey Jules’, but then later changed to Hey Jude. As bandmate Paul McCartney explains: “I started with the idea ‘Hey Jules’, which was Julian, ‘don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better.’ Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces… I had the idea for the song by the time I got there. I changed it to ‘Jude’ because I thought that sounded a bit better.”
Originally Lennon thought the song was for him, because he had just met his new love, Yoko Ono. Julian Lennon only discovered the song was written for him nearly 20 years later.
Musically, the song was worlds different from the Beatles’ previous work; because of its seven minute length, it became the longest number one single on the British charts, and broke the idea that songs over three minutes were un-commercial. The song enjoyed 19 weeks on the Billboard chart (nine of those weeks at number one) and sold over three million times in its first two weeks in America alone. In 2013, Billboard labelled it the 10th biggest song of all time.
Because of the ambiguous nature of the lyrics (which seemingly refers to a woman but does not give any specifics away), the song has universal appeal, and today it is still one of the biggest royalty generators earning US$1.1 billion in royalties during 2013, in Japan alone – nearly half a century after its first release.
A Wealth of Water – Lake Kunming, Summer Palace, Beijing
There is nothing quite like the bond between a son and a mother, and this may well be one of the greatest gifts a son has ever bestowed on his mother. The Emperor Qianlong (left) of the Qing Dynasty, very much doted on his mother, and often went to her for advice. She also accompanied him on various journeys and when she was no longer able to travel, the emperor stopped all his trips and only resumed them after her death.
For his mother’s 60th birthday, the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, ordered the most spectacular gift, a 200-hectre man-made lake built as part of the Summer Palace, and including a place of worship on the Eastern shore.
Covering three quarters of the total area of the Summer Palace, the Lake is located in the ‘Garden of Clear Ripples’ which took 14 years to build, built on land that was created from the dredging of a water channel, and with a temple that is now known as the ‘Hall of Dispelling Clouds.’ The lake is used as a source of water for the city for over 3,500 years. As one of the biggest tourist attractions in Beijing, the Summer Palace, including Lake Kunming, is still visited by millions of tourists per year.
Today, the lake is a gift to the people of China, and many have enjoyed a cool breeze, reflecting on life (and maybe love) at the water’s edge.
