Vintage View: History's most jaw-droppingly extravagant gifts

Kya deLongchamps looks at some of the most extravagant gifts in history.

Vintage View: History's most jaw-droppingly extravagant gifts
Sat, 19 Dec, 2015 - 00:00

Pleading for another hammer-drill for Christmas got me thinking about what I might gift or receive from my loved ones, if I was a demented tycoon relieved of all financial controls. Well, let me tell you, the stakes are high.

In 1534, Queen Anne Boleyn (1501-1536) gave a table fountain to King Henry VIII to celebrate New Year, a tradition more usual to the Tudors than gifts at Christmas.

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CourtsHomeandinteriorsDesign and DecorChristmasGiftsPlace: EnglandPlace: PortugalPlace: TangierPlace: BombayPlace: AgraPlace: Taj MahalPlace: Ellis IslandPlace: BedloePlace: IslandPlace: New York HarbourPlace: Ile aux CygnesPlace: ParisPerson: Kya deLongchampsPerson: Queen Anne BoleynPerson: KingPerson: Henry VIIIPerson: Hans HolbeinPerson: Cornelis HayesPerson: AnnePerson: QueenPerson: Catherine of BraganzaPerson: Charles IIPerson: Shah JahanPerson: JahanPerson: Mumtaz MahalPerson: Frederic Auguste BartholdiPerson: Rodrigo DaviesPerson: BartholdiPerson: AugustaPerson: Aristotle OnassisPerson: Harry WinstonPerson: CartierPerson: Sultan of BruneiPerson: Richard BurtonPerson: Robert KenmorePerson: BurtonPerson: Elizabeth TaylorPerson: Brad PittPerson: Frank Lloyd WrightEvent: ChristmasEvent: New YearEvent: Franco-Prussian WarOrganisation: East India CompanyOrganisation: Center for Civic MediaOrganisation: Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyOrganisation: Republican
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