V&A Dundee
In Norse mythology a Valkyrie is a female figure who gets to choose who lives or dies on the battlefield. The story was celebrated in Wagner’s opera
Der Ring des Nibelungen in the instantly recognisable third act –
The Ride of the Valkyries – which was first performed in 1870, sparking a fashion for all things Viking.
Early adopters of this winged style of tiara included Jane Norton Grew, the wife of American banker, J.P. Morgan Jr., when she commissioned Cartier to make hers featuring a 33-carat central diamond, as well as First Lady Ida Saxton McKinley, whose winged tiara from the late 1800s was spotted on the American TV programme