‘Extraordinary’ Mary, Queen of Scots casket to undergo tests
EXPERTS will carry out tests on a silver casket said to have belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots in an attempt to confirm whether it is the same famous chest that played a part in her downfall.
The “extraordinary” casket went on display at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) last week after it was saved for the nation for nearly £1.8 million.
Made in Paris between 1493 and 1510, it is thought to have been given to Mary by her first husband, Francois II of France, and came to Scotland with her in 1561.
It is reputed to have contained the so-called “casket letters” that were used in 1568 to implicate her in the murder of Mary’s second husband, Lord Darnley.
Although many experts believe the letters and love poems allegedly from Mary to her third husband, the Earl of Bothwell, were doctored, they are said to have played a key role in Mary spending the final 19 years of her life held captive in England.
The casket bought by the NMS was acquired by Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, from the Douglas family around 1674, and is inscribed with the Hamilton family crest.
However, that casket, which contained the damning letters, is recorded as having featured Francois’ coat of arms. NMS experts will use scanning techniques to discover whether it was erased at some point and replaced.
Dr Anna Groundwater, the museum’s principal curator of renaissance and early modern history, said that a provenance note kept within the casket since the
17th century suggests it was once inscribed with the Douglas arms, but that the Duke of Hamilton ordered it to be replaced with his own.
She said: “The arms that are engraved on the casket at the moment are those of the Dukes of Hamilton. We can see that underneath the Hamilton arms there have been other things engraved, so that agrees with the note in that there was something there before that was erased.
“Our conservation lab can use high res scanning to reveal incredibly detailed images so that any dent – any incision at all – in the surface, will come out in the relief.”
Dr Groundwater said: “In public ownership, I cannot think of anything more certainly associated with Mary, Queen of Scots that is of any greater importance.”