Royal Connections

31st March 2023

A number of objects with Royal connections are emerging at auction in the run-up to the Coronation on 6^th May.

Spanning a period of 400 years, from furniture to jewellery, the items illustrate the changing face of the British monarchy and the continuing significance it holds for the general public.

The first items to come under the hammer on 4^th April are two Danish Christian IV Baltic oak, leather and iron-bound chests (lots 79 and 80), believed to have been gifts to King James I. The sister of Christian IV (King of Denmark and Norway) was married to James in 1589, and the gift seems to have been made five years after the unification of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603. A similar chest is in the Royal Danish Collection in Rosenborg. Each chest is expected to make in the region of £20,000-30,000.

In the same sale is a Louis XV Boulle and ormolu-mounted clock and stand (lot 270), with a movement by Sigismund Rentzsch who worked in St James’s, London during the early 19^th century as clockmaker to the King, Queen and Royal Family. The clock has come from the collection of HRH Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover and the fifth son of George III. It is believed to have been removed from the collection at Windsor Castle when the then Duke of Cumberland ascended to the throne of Hanover, and kept in Marienburg Castle, where it was acquired direct from the family in 1998.

Relating directly to the traditions of the Coronation ceremony is a silver gilt canopy bell dating to 1727 and the coronation of George II (lot 555). The covering of the monarch by a canopy during the anointment is a tradition that continues today and will form part of the ceremony on 6^th May. This particular bell came into the possession of the Hon. George Berkeley, who was a canopy bearer for George II as one of the members of parliament for the Cinque Ports. He, in turn, gifted it to his sister, Lady Elizabeth Germain and it has been passed down the family ever since, appearing on the open market on 19^th April for the first time in nearly 300 years.

Other items of silver with a royal provenance (and a more affordable price tag), include an early 19^th century two-handled bowl and cover (lot 686) bearing the cipher for Her Majesty Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. It was passed to the couple’s sixth daughter, August Sophia (said to be the King’s favourite), and upon her death was passed to her brother, HRH Ernest Augustus the King of Hanover. Representing the modern monarchy is a Garrard and Co commemorative parcel-gilt silver canteen of cutlery for twelve, made in celebration of the wedding of our present King to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 (lot 225).

Included in the Jewellery auction on 20^th April is a pair of gold presentation cufflinks by Gerald Benney (lot 1105). Hallmarked for 1972, the circular discs bear the cipher for Queen Elizabeth II and would have been a personal gift from her to the recipient.

The following week features a glass rummer commemorating the Coronation of Queen Victoria on 28^th June 1838, and a number of enamel patch boxes commemorating Royal events of the late 18^th and early 19^th century, all from the collection of the late Barry Lock.