Locket, stock and barrel

Marie Antoinette’s passion for furniture and genius for bagatelles, however evanescent their purpose, filled the French royal palaces with beauty and charm, as Matthew Dennison reveals

This autumn, the V&A unveils a captivating exhibition dedicated to Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated French queen whose brief yet eventful life continues to bewitch audiences and fuel the creative imagination. Marie-Claire Chappet traces her enduring influence on culture and fashion

Over the centuries, the brooch, invented to fasten garments, has become a glittering gem, a coded communication–an art mastered by Elizabeth II– and a way to express personality. Mary Miers traces the history of a jewel that is back in style

The Palladian splendours of the King’s Dumfries House make a majestic backdrop for a curated collection of fashion from iconic British brands, paired with finely crafted jewels

When COUNTRY LIFE’s Henry Avray Tipping spotted a 17th-century four poster languishing in a Herefordshire attic in 1911, he set off a chain of events that saw the bed leave its ancestral home and land at The Met in New York

Does a newly found Nicholas Hilliard miniature portray Shakespeare’s patron the Earl of Southampton?