Henry Philip Hope (8 June 1774, Amsterdam – 5 December 1839, Kent) was a collector of Dutch origin based in London. He was one of the heirs of the bank Hope & Co. without having been a banker himself but rather a famous collector of the arts and more particularly precious gems.

Origins

He was the son of

Jan Hope John Hope (14 February 1737 – 20 April 1784), also known as Jan Hope, was a wealthy Dutch banker, participating in Hope & Co., a member of the city council and an art collector. In 1770 he was appointed as manager of the Dutch East India Co ...

and Philippina Barbara van der Hoeven and the youngest brother of

Thomas Hope (designer) Thomas Hope (30 August 17692 February 1831) the "Furniture Hope" was a Dutch and British interior decorator, Regency designer, traveler, author, philosopher, art collector, and a member of the bankers Hope & Co. He is best known for introducin ...

and Adrian Elias Hope. He inherited a grand home on Duchess Street,

Cavendish Square Cavendish Square is a public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square in the much lar ...

, London, that he kept from when his father died in 1831 until he sold it for demolition in 1851.Watkin, David. "Thomas Hope's house in Duchess Street: the interiors created by Hope to display works of art in his London house were some of the most influential of the Regency age. A fuller story of their evolution can now be told, following the discovery of drawings by Robert Adam and C. H. Tatham." ''Apollo'', vol. 159, no. 505, Mar. 2004, pp. 31+. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A114477247/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=54d5b62e. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.

Collector

He was a prominent collector of gems, including the

Hope Diamond The Hope Diamond is a diamond originally extracted in the 17th century from the Kollur Mine in Guntur, India. It is blue in color due to trace amounts of boron. Its exceptional size has revealed new information about the formation of diamonds. ...

(a blue diamond of ) and a large pearl of 1,800 grains (or 90 g) which still bear the name of Hope. The catalogue of his collection was published by Bram Hertz shortly after his death. The conditions for the acquisition of the blue diamond remain uncertain. The archives found at the National Museum of Natural History leave no room for certainty. It may be possible that Henry Philip Hope acquired the French blue diamond after his flight in 1792. Records reveal that Henry Philip Hope also bought a 137-carat sapphire that had previously belonged to the Ruspoli family of Rome which was confused until 2013 with Louis XIV's "Grand Saphir". The Grand was of comparable weight, but has different facets (rhomboid instead of cushion).

Inheritance

When his brother, Adrian Elias Hope, died in 1834 with no wife or children, he inherited £500,000 (or £ in currency). In his book on precious stones, the French mineralogist

René Just Haüy René Just Haüy () FRS MWS FRSE (28 February 1743 – 1 June 1822) was a French priest and mineralogist, commonly styled the Abbé Haüy after he was made an honorary canon of Notre Dame. Due to his innovative work on crystal structure and hi ...

cites Henry Philip Hope as one of the most distinguished patrons of the arts of his time. When he died in 1839, his collection was viewed as "...one of most perfect collections of diamonds and precious stones that has, perhaps, ever been possessed by a private individual..."

Bibliography

;Notes ;References * - Total pages: 250 * - Total pages: 400 * - Total pages: 198 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Henry Philip 1774 births 1839 deaths Hope family Art collectors from Amsterdam Art collectors from London Dutch people of Scottish descent Dutch emigrants to the United Kingdom

Origins

Collector

Inheritance

See also

Bibliography