MARK OF WILHELM CONRAD JOSEF LAMEYER, HANOVER, CIRCA 1857

Details

A GERMAN PASTE-SET GOLD PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOX WITH MINIATURE
MARK OF WILHELM CONRAD JOSEF LAMEYER, HANOVER, CIRCA 1857
Cartouche shaped and with waved sides, the lid applied with an oval portrait miniature of King George V of Hanover (1819-1878) in silver-bordered white uniform with epaulettes and various orders, within a paste-set frame flanked by three silver-mounted paste stones on each side, the lid and sides chased with scrolls, shells and flowers, the base similarly engraved with mirrored scrolls and foliage centred by a posy of flowers, the inside of the lid stamped with presentation inscription on a frosted gold ground marked inside, the left border stamped '2382'
3¾ in. (95 mm.) wide
The inscription reads 'Koenig Georg V seinem Gesandten Graf Adolph von Kielmansegge zu London als Zeichen der besonderen Anerkennung für seine treu geleisteten Dienste in Wiedererlangung der Kronjuwelen am 6. Januar 1858' meaning that King George V of Hanover presented this box to his emissary Count Adolph of Kielmansegge as an acknowledgement of his faithful service in the affair of the retrieval of the Hanoverian crown jewels.

Provenance

Count Adolph von Kielmansegge.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Until 1837 the British Kings ruled both Britain and Hanover and King George I and George II divided their time between both countries and kept their inheritances separate. On George II's death in 1760 he left half his personal jewels to his heir, King George III and the remaining half to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. In 1761 the Duke sold his share for £50,000 to King George III who gave them as a wedding gift to his bride, Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Queen Charlotte kept these jewels separately and on her death in 1818 left them to 'the House of Hanover'. In 1838, the Kingdom of Hanover passed new laws conforming to the Germanic code that excluded women from the succession as long as any male member of the family survived. So when King George III's son King William IV died in 1837, his successor Queen Victoria could not succeed to the Throne of Hanover and the two kingdoms were separated. Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland became King of Hanover and demanded a portion of the jewels left by King William but Queen Victoria refused and claimed that any Hanoverian jewels she had inherited had been bought by English money. The claim continued after King Ernest died in 1851 and his son, King George V continued with the Hanoverian claim. Prince Albert suggested that England should buy the jewels from Hanover and after an initial refusal, Parliament decided in December 1857 that Queen Charlotte's diamond wedding crown, diamond stomacher and diamond necklace and cross be delivered to the Hanoverian Ambassador, Count Kielmansegge on 28
January 1858.
W. Scheffler (Goldschmiede Niedersachsens, vol. 11, Berlin, 1965, p. 776) records that Lameyer was born in Twistringen, Ehrenburg in 1808, apprenticed 1823-1828 in Bremen to George W. Aldefeld and subsequently worked in Hanover, Stuttgart, Paris and Geneva. From 1834 he worked with G. Knauer in Hanover and became Master in 1837. He was Court goldsmith and jeweller in Hanover from 1847 and died in 1866.

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