THE PROPERTY OF THE HEIRS OF MRS AUBREY WATERFIELD
[BYRON, George Gordon Noel, 6th Lord (1788-1824)]
細節
[BYRON, George Gordon Noel, 6th Lord (1788-1824)]
The gold ring set with turquoise which was bought by Byron in London in August 1813 for use as a gift during his projected travels in the Levant, but on his remaining in England was given by him to Lady Charlotte Campbell, lady-in-waiting of Caroline, Princess of Wales; it became in 1869 the engagement ring of Emily, fiancée of the future 26th Earl of Crawford, and was given by her in 1912 to Lina Waterfield, from whom the present owners have inherited it. A gold and turquoise ring, the band set at intervals with cabochon turquoise, the rims set with similar smaller stones (a few missing), circa 1812. Finger size M.
Emily Bootle-Wilbraham married in 1869 Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford from 1880 and a distinguished astronomer, collector and bibliophile. His father Alexander, the 25th Earl, was the founder of the celebrated Bibliotheca Lindesiana and a great collector. Included in the lot are two manuscript notes in the hand of Countess Emily concerning the ring:
'Byron's Ring, given to me as my engagement ring, was given to Charles Waterfield by Lady Charlotte Bury who was Charlotte Campbell who was given the ring by Lord Byron - she was his first love and he wanted to marry her.'
'For dear Lina or Aubrey. About the ring given me as my engagement ring - given by Lord Byron to his 1st Love - I wish Lina to have the ring set with turquoises Lord Byron's mother was a Gordon'.
[on verso] 'ring given Xmas 1912'
These notes must contain information given to Emily by her husband or father-in-law. The following account of the ring's provenance lists the successive owners indicated by her.
BYRON. On 3 August 1813 he bought at Love and Kelty's, jewellers of 6 Old Bond Street, London, a 'Turquoise Bead Ring' for 12 guineas, as itemised in their account (photocopy included in the lot) sent to him in 1813. Since the description of this purchase fits the present ring, of which Byron is named by Emily as the first owner, there can be no reasonable doubt that the present ring is that bought by Byron.
Byron's reason for this purchase is given in his letter of 18 August 1813 to Lady Melbourne: 'Ld. S[ligo] is in town & we are much embarassed with ye. plague which is it seems all over ye. Levant - but having been both at a prodigious expenditure in large trunks - small clothes - & small arms for ourselves - snuff boxes & Telescopes for the Mussulman gentry - & gewgaws for such of the Pagan women as may be inclined to give us trinkets in exchange - why - lest so much good preparation should be thrown away - we are determined to go.' Turquoises are much used in the jewellery of the Levant, as Byron must have seen during his travels in 1809-11, and this probably led him to buy the present ring. But by November 1813, owing to plague in the Levant and delay in the sale of Newstead, he had decided not to go.
LADY CHARLOTTE CAMPBELL (1775-1861), Lady Charlotte Bury after her second marriage in 1818, was lady-in-waiting in 1810-15 to Caroline, Princess of Wales. Byron, a Whig supporter of the Princess against the Prince Regent, was a visitor to her from January 1813 until at least April 1814. During these visits he must have met Lady Charlotte Campbell, and his giving the ring to her indicates a friendship between them not hitherto suspected. It was no doubt helped by their Scottish origins and by her having published poetry and a novel as well as by conviviality. The assertion that Byron loved her is certainly a fiction.
CHARLES WATERFIELD (1806 - 1871), a barrister, was evidently a friend of Lady Charlotte, since the ring was 'given' to him by her. He was the grandfather of Aubrey Waterfield, mentioned below.
THE EARLS OF CRAWFORD AND BALCARRES. The ring may have been acquired by them well before Emily's engagement in 1869; possibly by the 25th Earl, the great collector.
LINA WATERFIELD, born Lina Duff Gordon in 1874, wife of the painter Aubrey Waterfield, describes their life in Florence and Tuscany in her Castle in Italy (1961). Her friend Countess Emily gave the ring to her because Lina, a Gordon of Fyvie, was related to Byron's mother, a Gordon of Gight.
We are grateful to Gerald Burdon for the above history of the ring; and to John Murray Ltd for the text of the jeweller's account. (4)
The gold ring set with turquoise which was bought by Byron in London in August 1813 for use as a gift during his projected travels in the Levant, but on his remaining in England was given by him to Lady Charlotte Campbell, lady-in-waiting of Caroline, Princess of Wales; it became in 1869 the engagement ring of Emily, fiancée of the future 26th Earl of Crawford, and was given by her in 1912 to Lina Waterfield, from whom the present owners have inherited it. A gold and turquoise ring, the band set at intervals with cabochon turquoise, the rims set with similar smaller stones (a few missing), circa 1812. Finger size M.
Emily Bootle-Wilbraham married in 1869 Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford from 1880 and a distinguished astronomer, collector and bibliophile. His father Alexander, the 25th Earl, was the founder of the celebrated Bibliotheca Lindesiana and a great collector. Included in the lot are two manuscript notes in the hand of Countess Emily concerning the ring:
'Byron's Ring, given to me as my engagement ring, was given to Charles Waterfield by Lady Charlotte Bury who was Charlotte Campbell who was given the ring by Lord Byron - she was his first love and he wanted to marry her.'
'For dear Lina or Aubrey. About the ring given me as my engagement ring - given by Lord Byron to his 1st Love - I wish Lina to have the ring set with turquoises Lord Byron's mother was a Gordon'.
[on verso] 'ring given Xmas 1912'
These notes must contain information given to Emily by her husband or father-in-law. The following account of the ring's provenance lists the successive owners indicated by her.
BYRON. On 3 August 1813 he bought at Love and Kelty's, jewellers of 6 Old Bond Street, London, a 'Turquoise Bead Ring' for 12 guineas, as itemised in their account (photocopy included in the lot) sent to him in 1813. Since the description of this purchase fits the present ring, of which Byron is named by Emily as the first owner, there can be no reasonable doubt that the present ring is that bought by Byron.
Byron's reason for this purchase is given in his letter of 18 August 1813 to Lady Melbourne: 'Ld. S[ligo] is in town & we are much embarassed with ye. plague which is it seems all over ye. Levant - but having been both at a prodigious expenditure in large trunks - small clothes - & small arms for ourselves - snuff boxes & Telescopes for the Mussulman gentry - & gewgaws for such of the Pagan women as may be inclined to give us trinkets in exchange - why - lest so much good preparation should be thrown away - we are determined to go.' Turquoises are much used in the jewellery of the Levant, as Byron must have seen during his travels in 1809-11, and this probably led him to buy the present ring. But by November 1813, owing to plague in the Levant and delay in the sale of Newstead, he had decided not to go.
LADY CHARLOTTE CAMPBELL (1775-1861), Lady Charlotte Bury after her second marriage in 1818, was lady-in-waiting in 1810-15 to Caroline, Princess of Wales. Byron, a Whig supporter of the Princess against the Prince Regent, was a visitor to her from January 1813 until at least April 1814. During these visits he must have met Lady Charlotte Campbell, and his giving the ring to her indicates a friendship between them not hitherto suspected. It was no doubt helped by their Scottish origins and by her having published poetry and a novel as well as by conviviality. The assertion that Byron loved her is certainly a fiction.
CHARLES WATERFIELD (1806 - 1871), a barrister, was evidently a friend of Lady Charlotte, since the ring was 'given' to him by her. He was the grandfather of Aubrey Waterfield, mentioned below.
THE EARLS OF CRAWFORD AND BALCARRES. The ring may have been acquired by them well before Emily's engagement in 1869; possibly by the 25th Earl, the great collector.
LINA WATERFIELD, born Lina Duff Gordon in 1874, wife of the painter Aubrey Waterfield, describes their life in Florence and Tuscany in her Castle in Italy (1961). Her friend Countess Emily gave the ring to her because Lina, a Gordon of Fyvie, was related to Byron's mother, a Gordon of Gight.
We are grateful to Gerald Burdon for the above history of the ring; and to John Murray Ltd for the text of the jeweller's account. (4)