Lot 86
86
A GEORGE III JEWELLED AND ENAMEL GOLD 'RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS' MEDALLION CONVERTED INTO A LOCKET PENDANT
A GEORGE III JEWELLED AND ENAMEL GOLD 'RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS' MEDALLION CONVERTED INTO A LOCKET PENDANT
A GEORGE III JEWELLED AND ENAMEL GOLD 'RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS' MEDALLION CONVERTED INTO A LOCKET PENDANT
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A GEORGE III JEWELLED AND ENAMEL GOLD 'RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS' MEDALLION CONVERTED INTO A LOCKET PENDANT
4 More
A GEORGE III JEWELLED AND ENAMEL GOLD 'RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS' MEDALLION CONVERTED INTO A LOCKET PENDANT

THE MEDALLION ENGLAND, DATED 1789, THE MOUNTS CIRCA 1820

Details
A GEORGE III JEWELLED AND ENAMEL GOLD 'RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS' MEDALLION CONVERTED INTO A LOCKET PENDANT
THE MEDALLION ENGLAND, DATED 1789, THE MOUNTS CIRCA 1820
Circular, centred with the medallion enamelled in white, red and blue and inscribed 'Regi Amato Reduci / Vivat G III R / Mart X MDCCLXXXIX', within a gold rim shaped as a serpent, the reverse with a glazed compartment containing a lock of hair of Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) and another lock of hair of King George III (1738-1820), both within black enamelled rims, all surmounted by an enamelled crown, set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, with a hinged suspension loop
3 in. (7.5 cm.) high
gross weight 1 oz. 2 dwt. (34.5 gr.)
Provenance
The medallion presented by Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), 19 March 1789.
With Daniel Packer, London, 2005.

Brought to you by

Harry Williams-Bulkeley
Harry Williams-Bulkeley International Head of Silver Department
+44 (0)20 7389 2666

Lot Essay


LOYALTY TO THE KING
The present pendant incorporates a rare medallion, which was commissioned by Queen Charlotte as a gift to close friends, who had remained loyal during the King's illness, to celebrate King's recovery in 1789, subsequently diagnosed as porphyria. The event was greeted with widespread celebrations, and Parliament presented addresses of congratulation to the King on 10 March, the date commemorated on the medallion. The later conversion to a locket enclosing the hair of the King and Queen makes it a very personal memento mori. A similar unmounted medallion is illustrated in G. de Bellaigue, 'Huzza the King Is Well!', The Burlington Magazine, June 1984, vol. 126, no. 975, p. 331, fig. 10.

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