Mimi di N vintage brooch Sunflower 1994

The Sunflower brooch is the work of a magnificent jeweler, designer Madame Mimi di Nisimi, Princess Maria Konradovna, wife of Prince Alexander Nikitich Romanov, nee Princess Maria di Nisimi.
The Princess by birth belongs to the ancient Sicilian family of Princes di Nisimi.
Mimi (that was her family name) was 9 years old when she and her family left Italy for the USA in 1938. While living in Philadelphia, young Maria became interested in drawing. Having successfully passed the exams and entered the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts of Pennsylvania, she began to study drawing, graphics, technical drawing, and soon discovered that she liked working on metal most of all. Already in the second year, she began to create jewelry that quickly fell to the taste of others.
After graduating from the academy, Maria got a job in a jewelry company, but then, in 1957, after winning a grant, she went to Paris to improve her education at the Higher School of Applied Arts and Design. In Paris, Maria worked in partnership with designer Arnold Scasi and jeweler Roberto di Mario.
In 1960 Maria di Nisimi returned to the USA. For a short time she collaborated with the famous fashion designer and designer Elsa Sciararelli, and then moved to the firm of her uncle, also the famous jeweler Fulco di Verdura.
In 1962, the princess founded her own jewelry brand called "Mimi di N", and in 1968 a truly colossal success came to her. Maria di Nisimi's firm has won one of the most prestigious awards in the jewelry business "Great Design in Costume Jewelry Award". The company began to receive a lot of orders and offers. Former First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy-Onanssis and the Duchess of Windsor became regular customers.
In the 1970s -1980s, the company flourished. Made in the Byzantine style, and after marriage with Prince Alexander Nikitich Romanov, Russian motifs began to be used in jewelry, high-quality jewelry quickly found its buyers.
In 1995, Princess Maria sold her company.

"Sunflower" 9 cm x 4,5 cm.
The brooch is marked MIMI DI N 1994
Condition is very good.