Begin your own royal romance
Not all the souvenirs are trash, some make a sound investment
ANEW baby for Kate and William and a wedding for Meghan and Harry and all in a matter of weeks. The manufacturers of royal commemorative souvenirs must be working their socks off and taking bags of money to the bank.
Some of it is great, some of it awful and some positively hilarious. A website is currently selling a purple and gold plate, presumably made in China, printed with portraits of an unsmiling bride to be and… wait for it… pop superstar Ed Sheeran in place of the prince. He’s even described as “Henry Prince of Wales”. Was it a joke, or a right royal blunder? Either way, no wonder she’s not smiling.
Here’s a better idea: mark the occasion by all means and buy something, anything, connected to the Royal Family, however tenuous. But buy something that’s either unique or antique.
Most of the commemorative souvenirs on sale today will be worthless in 100 years’ time. Visit your local saleroom, antique shop or antiques fair and you’ll find royal mementos made centuries ago that at worst will hold their value. Buy wisely and you’ll take home a potential nest egg for your children or your grandchildren.
There will be numerous opportunities to seek them out in the coming days, but if you fancy visiting a National Trust property, a fair at Petworth Park in West Sussex this month is recommended. I asked a handful of the 50 dealers who will be attending to tell me about some of the royal commemoratives they will be offering.
Indeed, one of them, the Rountree Tryon Galleries of St James’s and James Rountree have recently been granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment as specialist art dealer to the Duke of Edinburgh, while Hatchwell Antiques, Chelsea, will be showing an imposing bronze coat of arms symbolising the Royal Warrant issued to Garrard & Co, crown jewellers from 1853-1930.
Bargain of the day, however, might be found with Oxfordshire picture dealer Sarah Colegrave, who is showing a small yet charming watercolour by Barbara Dorf titled Royal Wedding Window. Painted in 1981, it shows the decorations to mark the wedding of Prince Harry’s parents, Charles and Diana. Be quick, though, it’s a snip.
Barbara
Ester Dorf
(1933-2016) was born in North London, the daughter of a Polish furrier. Her family were Jewish but she converted to Catholicism in the early 1950s. She was educated at the North London Collegiate, before studying at the Central School of Arts and Craft, later winning a scholarship to the Slade. She then taught for a time in Oxford at the Ruskin School of Drawing and at Brooks University. The British Museum and many private collections hold examples of her work.
Tunbridge ware – wooden articles decorated with tiny pieces of coloured veneers – has been around since the 17th century but few examples are known with royal connections. Amherst Antiques has two pieces: a matchbox cover to commemorate the coronation of George VI in 1937 and a stationery box marking the birth of Queen Victoria’s first son, Edward, Prince of Wales.
He was born in 1841 and succeeded to the throne as King Edward VII in 1901. The matchbox cover was made by Thomas Littleton Green (flourished around 1931-1939) in the very last Tunbridge ware workshop in existence at Rye, East Sussex, for the anticipated coronation of Edward VIII. However, with his abdication, Green was forced to change the initials from ER to GR.
One of the oldest commemoratives at the fair is an extremely rare drinking glass goblet engraved with the royal coat of arms, its stem bearing six royalist four-sided stars. It dates from about 1715-1725, and is with London dealers JH BourdonSmith Ltd, while Jupiter Antiques from Edenbridge, Kent, will show a mug, dated 1757, depicting Frederick the Great of Prussia, whose uncle was George II.
Britain and Prussia were allies in the Seven Years War of 1754-63, and battle scenes are shown on the side of the mug. Frederick’s cousin George III ascended the throne following George II’s death in 1760.
Also in ceramics, an extremely rare Worcester mug commemorating King George II, with the trophies of war, c.1760, and another commemorating the death of George III in 1820 decorated with an excellent print of the monarch will be shown by Roger de Ville from Denstone in Staffordshire, and Petworth Antiques Market have a rare English Staffordshire pearlware two-handled loving cup commemorating King George lll with the inscription of “God Save The King”, circa 1780.
Early pearlware was predominantly decorated in underglazed blue, but the fragile earthenware was prone to damage. The loving cup was made probably to celebrate the king’s coronation or for someone who married in this period and had a fondness for the monarchy of the time.
Among jewellery, Flaxman Fine Jewellery from Windsor will show a pair of 18ct rose and white gold cufflinks depicting the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock, the national flowers of the United Kingdom. It was probably commissioned for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1952 and is signed Cartier Paris.
The same dealer has a King George VI coronation royal trumpeter brooch set throughout with sapphires, rubies and diamonds mounted in 18ct gold by the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, and dating from 1937, while a pretty pair of 14 carat white gold lily of the valley earrings set with brilliant and single-cut diamonds, cultured pearls and nephrite, is on sale with Antwerp dealers Precious Flora.
In the “language of flowers”, a floral code made popular by Queen Victoria, the lily of the valley means “trustworthy” and it symbolises the return to happiness.
Kate Middleton’s bouquet was made almost entirely from the flowers and it may well be favoured again at the forthcoming royal wedding on May 19.