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拍品專文
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
This rare pomander is part of a small group of jewels set with miniatures traditionally associated with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, which includes the Penicuik Jewels long preserved by the Clerks of Penicuik as relics of Mary and now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The latter indeed comprise an enameled locket with two painted miniatures believed to be that of Mary and her son James, resembling those on this pomander.
Although the miniatures cannot be definitively identified, they could portray Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), her mother Mary of Guise (1515-1560), her father James V of Scotland (1512-1542), her husband Francis II of France (1519-1560), his mother Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) and his father Henry II of France (1519-1559), making this jewel a possible wedding present.
The style of this pomander, comparable to that of surviving jewels associated with Scottish jewelry, was described by George Dalgleish in The Art of Jewellery in Scotland (ed. Rosalind Marshall and George Dalgleish, Scottish National Portrait Gallery,1991) as being specifically Scottish with no surviving equivalent from England or France.
A POLITICAL JEWEL
Mary brought many jewels with her from France in 1561 and in Scotland she inherited her mother's whilst continuing to acquire new pieces as shown by the inventories held in the National Records of Scotland. Thus, the inventories show that Mary owed several pomander beads which contained a scented compound and were commonly worn by royal women and aristocrats, with several mentions of Mary having gifted pomanders to courtiers such as her half sister Jean Stewart, Countess of Argyll Anne Percy, Countess of Northumberland (see John Duncan Mackie, 'Queen Mary's Jewels', Scottish Historical Review, volume 18, no 70 (January 1921), pp. 83–98). The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds a gold filigree pomander enclosing a ball of ambergris which would have been worn as a bracelet or necklace (Acc. no. 849-1892) while the Royal Collection trust holds a silver-gilt segmented pomander said to have belonged to Mary (RCIN 28182).
Mary Queen of Scots was particularly fond of jewels adorned with her own portrait or her cypher as gifts to her supporters, turning them into propaganda jewels and a sign of political allegiance. Several examples exist including a cameo of her profile believed to have been a gift to Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk in the Portland Collection or the jeweled and enameled pendant from the collection of the Earls of Darnley and the Dukes of Lennox sold at Christie's, London, 28 November 2018, lot 159, set with two miniatures believed to be of Mary Queen of Scots on one side and her son James VI on the other.
In this instance, the present pomander, although possibly a gift, marked the alliance with France and the underlying intention of the Guise family to destroy the power of the protestants.
This rare pomander is part of a small group of jewels set with miniatures traditionally associated with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, which includes the Penicuik Jewels long preserved by the Clerks of Penicuik as relics of Mary and now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The latter indeed comprise an enameled locket with two painted miniatures believed to be that of Mary and her son James, resembling those on this pomander.
Although the miniatures cannot be definitively identified, they could portray Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), her mother Mary of Guise (1515-1560), her father James V of Scotland (1512-1542), her husband Francis II of France (1519-1560), his mother Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) and his father Henry II of France (1519-1559), making this jewel a possible wedding present.
The style of this pomander, comparable to that of surviving jewels associated with Scottish jewelry, was described by George Dalgleish in The Art of Jewellery in Scotland (ed. Rosalind Marshall and George Dalgleish, Scottish National Portrait Gallery,1991) as being specifically Scottish with no surviving equivalent from England or France.
A POLITICAL JEWEL
Mary brought many jewels with her from France in 1561 and in Scotland she inherited her mother's whilst continuing to acquire new pieces as shown by the inventories held in the National Records of Scotland. Thus, the inventories show that Mary owed several pomander beads which contained a scented compound and were commonly worn by royal women and aristocrats, with several mentions of Mary having gifted pomanders to courtiers such as her half sister Jean Stewart, Countess of Argyll Anne Percy, Countess of Northumberland (see John Duncan Mackie, 'Queen Mary's Jewels', Scottish Historical Review, volume 18, no 70 (January 1921), pp. 83–98). The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds a gold filigree pomander enclosing a ball of ambergris which would have been worn as a bracelet or necklace (Acc. no. 849-1892) while the Royal Collection trust holds a silver-gilt segmented pomander said to have belonged to Mary (RCIN 28182).
Mary Queen of Scots was particularly fond of jewels adorned with her own portrait or her cypher as gifts to her supporters, turning them into propaganda jewels and a sign of political allegiance. Several examples exist including a cameo of her profile believed to have been a gift to Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk in the Portland Collection or the jeweled and enameled pendant from the collection of the Earls of Darnley and the Dukes of Lennox sold at Christie's, London, 28 November 2018, lot 159, set with two miniatures believed to be of Mary Queen of Scots on one side and her son James VI on the other.
In this instance, the present pomander, although possibly a gift, marked the alliance with France and the underlying intention of the Guise family to destroy the power of the protestants.