Jane Austen graces the news yet again this summer, this time
in connection with the American pop star Kelly Clarkson.
Earlier this month, the British minister of culture Ed Vaizy
placed a temporary export bar on a turquoise and gold ring which belonged to
Jane Austen. Kelly Clarkson, the American
Idol and Grammy winner, had purchased Austen’s ring at auction last year
for $232,700. However, Vaizy hopes that the “national treasure” can be “saved
for the nation.”
Kelly Clarkson is an avid Austen fan who also owns a first
edition of Persuasion. The star has
been seen sporting a replica of Austen’s turquoise ring at both the recent
presidential inauguration and the 55th Grammy awards.
Potential English buyers have until September 30th
to match the price tag. Two weeks after the export bar was put in place, an
anonymous donor gifted ₤100,000 (which adds to roughly $155,000) to Jane
Austen’s House Museum
in an effort to help keep the ring home in England.
With this serious move towards reclaiming the artifact, the
export ban has been stretched to December 30th. The museum will have
until the end of the year to gather the rest of the purchase price. In an
interview with The
Associated Press, the museum fundraiser Louise West commented that “it is
very good for Jane Austen PR that a young, famous American pop star expresses a
love for her.”
The ring is one of three pieces of jewelry known to belong
to the iconic British novelist Jane Austen. Until Clarkson’s
purchase at auction, the ring had stayed in the family passing from Jane to
her sister Cassandra. Cassandra then presented the ring as an engagement gift
to her sister-in-law Eleanor Austen.
Images from www.abebooks.com and www.mirror.co.uk
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