The “Queen of Diamonds” Franay-bodied 1933 Duesenberg Model J. Photos by Trent Sherrill, courtesy of Auctions America, unless otherwise noted.
Born in December 1893 to a working class family in Rochester, New York, Mabel Boll’s stunning beauty and ability to tell a good story would help her rise from cigar girl to the “Queen of Diamonds,” a nickname given for her affinity for expensive jewelry. A string of wealthy husbands would help her afford other luxuries as well, and in September her Franay-bodied 1933 Duesenberg Model J will serve as a highlight of Auctions America’s fall Auburn sale.
Now commonly referred to as the Queen of Diamonds Duesenberg, chassis 2385 didn’t begin its life wearing Franay coachwork. Instead, the car first carried a town car body crafted by Paris coachbuilder Kellner, best known for their work with Hispano-Suiza. It’s not clear how long the Kellner body remained in place, or why it was swapped in favor of the Franay bodywork. Equally unclear is the car’s early ownership; once source cites a Mrs. K. Stanley Smith of London as the first buyer, but other sources cite Mabel Boll, then known as “Countess Porceri,” as the Duesenberg’s original steward.
It’s generally agreed that the car was shown in a two-tone livery at the 1931 Paris Salon de l’Automobile, already wearing its sunroof berline body by Franay. After failing to attract a buyer in 1931, the car reappeared at the Paris Salon in 1932, this time in a monochrome finish, but it didn’t sell at this show, either, and was returned to Duesenberg’s Paris showroom for use as a factory demonstration model.
Mabel Boll. Photo courtesy Auctions America.
By 1931, Boll was on her third husband. Her marriage to businessman Robert Scott lasted from 1909 to 1917, while her marriage to Colombian coffee baron Hernando Rocha lasted a similar number of years, from 1922 to his 1930 death in a traffic accident. It was likely Rocha who gave Boll her love for outlandish jewelry; as a token of his affection, he presented her with a 46.57 carat diamond bearing her name. In 1931, Boll married again, pledging her affection to Count Henri de Porceri and picking up the title of Countess Porceri in the process.
This marriage lasted just two years, but before it ended Boll purchased the Duesenberg, in her own name, in February of 1933. When Boll returned to the United States from Europe in 1936, the Duesenberg was left behind at her French villa, and the car remained in France, with a string of owners, until 1971, when it was acquired by Gavin S. Herbert of Newport Beach, California. As for Boll herself, she’d marry one more husband, in 1940, but in April of 1949 was felled by a stroke while residing at a New York psychiatric hospital. The Queen of Diamonds wouldn’t live to see her 56th birthday.
The Queen of Diamonds Duesenberg passed through several additional owners in the United States in the early 1970s, undergoing a modest restoration in 1974. Purchased by Chicago jeweler Marvin Cohen in 1975, the car was subjected to a comprehensive restoration, one that saw the removal of the original rear trunk, the lengthening of the hood, the fitment of side exhausts and chromed hood screens, the addition of a rear bar cabinet and a repaint in the car’s current color (described as everything from magenta to metallic dark rose to strawberry).
The Duesenberg has crossed the block a few times in recent years, selling for $550,000 at a Christies auction in Monterey in 2001; $777,600 at a Branson, Missouri auction in 2009; and reaching $1.65 million at the 2009 Kruse Hill Country Classic. This time around Auctions America is predicting a selling price between $750,000 and $900,000 when the Duesenberg crosses the auction stage in Indiana this September.
The Auburn Fall sale will take place from August 31 through September 4 at the Auburn Auction Park. For additional information, visit AuctionsAmerica.com.
See original article at" https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/08/19/a-duesenberg-fit-for-a-queen-of-diamonds/
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