BY CHARLES COLINS SONS (FL. C. 1837 - AFTER 1870), MARKED, HANAU, CIRCA 1865

Christian IX (1818-1906) was King of Denmark from 1863-1906. From 1863-1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish throne. Christian married his second cousin, Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, a daughter of Prince William of Hesse and Charlotte of Denmark, in 1842. As a niece of King Christian VIII, who ruled Denmark between 1839 and 1848, Louise was very close to the succession, but renounced her rights to the throne to her spouse, and in 1852, Christian was chosen as heir to the Danish monarchy in light of the expected extinction of the senior line of the House of Oldenburg. Upon the death of King Frederick VII of Denmark in 1863, Christian acceded to the throne as the first Danish monarch of the House of Glücksburg. The six children of Christian and Louise married into other royal families across Europe and most current European monarchs are descended from them. These include Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, King Philippe of Belgium, King Harald V of Norway, King Felipe VI of Spain, and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg. The British consort Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is also an agnatic descendant of Christian IX, as is King Constantine II of the Hellenes.
For other boxes by this goldsmith see lots 208 and 221.