A Curse
AKA, things the British Stole (a great podcast, btw)
Strangers,
There’s something deeply satisfying about the story of a cursed object that just won’t quit. And the tale of the Delhi Purple Sapphire—which, despite its name, is actually an amethyst—might be one of the most persistent we’ve found.
The stone’s history wasn’t always dark—at least, as far as we know. But the curse might have started with a theft. According to Atlas Obscura, during the 1857 Indian Rebellion, a British soldier named Colonel W. Ferris looted the gem from the Temple of Indra in Kanpur and took it back to England. Things went sideways fast. His wealth evaporated, his health collapsed. His son tried offloading it—but the recipient died tragically and willed it right back.
Per Diamond Buzz, by 1890, Edward Heron-Allen—a scholar and writer—had acquired it. He lent it to a singer friend. She never performed again. Desperate, he chucked the thing into Regent’s Canal. Months later, Diamond Buzz reports, “a dredger discovered the amethyst” and it was returned through a jeweler.
Heron-Allen was convinced. According to Diamond Buzz, he “packed it in seven nested boxes with protective charms and deposited it in a bank vault” with instructions not to touch it for 33 years after he died. His daughter had other plans. Per the Natural History Museum, she waited just 12 months before donating it in 1944.
Fast forward to 2007. The BBC reported the museum put it on display in The Vault. The curse? Not done yet. According to Atlas Obscura, curator Richard Savin later transported it through what he described as “the most amazing storm” they’d ever seen—lightning everywhere, his wife yelling at him to toss it. Since then, he’s gotten mysteriously sick before every presentation about it.
But here’s the twist: the Natural History Museum notes that Heron-Allen may have “fabricated the amethyst’s curse” to promote a short story he wrote in 1921 called “The Purple Sapphire.” Victorian marketing scheme or genuine curse? His family still won’t touch it to find out.
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