SEVENTEENTH CENTURY JEWELLERY (_continued_)
ENGLAND, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
The jewels of the seventeenth century, as has been observed, are
comparatively rare in public collections. Unlike those of the
Cinquecento, which find a more appropriate place in the museum or
collector's cabinet, they are admirably adapted for personal use at the
present day; but until the change of taste of the last few years in
favour of old work, these attractive objects, owing to their being set
with precious stones of intrinsic value, suffered cruelly at the hands
of modern jewellers in the destructive process of resetting. Partly for
this reason it is less easy than it was with the jewellery of the
century previous to notify extant examples of all species of ornaments.
Their main features, already described, lie in a preference for precious
stones, and for a style of ornament which, at first formal, evolves into
naturalistic flower designs in painted enamel.
Widespread luxury accompanied the large importation of precious stones.
Ladies made each new fête a pretext for greater extravagance and greater
efforts to outshine their neighbours; and the ornament in which they
seem above all to have delighted for the best display of their wealth of
jewellery was the aigrette. This ornament, of which some mention has
been made (p. 281), generally took the form of a bouquet of flowers
on movable stalks, composed of clusters of precious stones in enamelled
gold, accompanied sometimes by a jewelled knot, and was fixed in the
hair on all occasions of ceremony. A large number of these bouquets are
mentioned in the inventory of the French crown jewels of 1618. In
default of actual examples we must rely on the designs which the
jewellers of the day published for them, and also on contemporary
portraits, which further illustrate a passing mode for plaiting strings
of pearls through the hair.
[Illustration: _PLATE XLII_ SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENAMELLED PENDANTS]
Of earrings, on the other hand, a considerable number of examples have
survived. French and English portraits show at first only a large
pear-shaped pearl in each ear. In the second half of the century more
elaborate earrings came into use. Spain, where these ornaments have
always been popular, produced at the time a number of portraits
exhibiting earrings of open-work set with coloured stones. They are in
the form of a rosette or bow-shaped ornament hung with movable pendants.
The engravings of Rivard (1646), Lefebure (1647), and Gilles Légaré
(1663) include designs for earrings; those of the last-named being such
voluminous jewels, hung with triple _briolettes_, _pendeloques_, or
pearls, that they might easily be mistaken for neck pendants. The
majority of earrings of this period, now existing, are of Spanish,
Portuguese, or Italian origin. The general type of earring then in use
is well shown in Rembrandt's portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels (about
1652), in the Louvre, where it takes the form of an elaborate pendant
terminating with a big pearl drop.
Necklaces of light open-work design are set with diamonds or coloured
stones. These seldom have a special pendant; they were, in fact, fast
disappearing to make room for rows of pearls. Jewelled pendants, often
consisting of two or more mobile parts, were frequently attached to a
velvet band that closely encircled the throat. More important pendants
of this period are those which take the forms of mounted engraved gems
or enamelled portraits, or else of miniature cases or lockets
beautifully enamelled.
The finest series of mounted gems is that in the Bibliothèque Nationale
at Paris. Some of the mounts are executed in the "pea pod" style in
open-work; others are ornamented with champlevé enamel, after the niello
designs in the silhouette manner; others again are of natural flower
designs in painted enamel. There is a noteworthy example at Paris of the
pea-pod style--a cameo (No. 791) of Louis XIII as an infant. It is in an
open-work frame of opaque enamel--black, dark green, and white--of about
1605, which bears a very close resemblance to one of the published
designs of Pierre Marchant. In the Gem Room of the British Museum is a
still finer example, and one of the most splendid jewels from the famous
Marlborough Collection. It is of open-work, enamelled white and green:
the husks or pods, set each with a small diamond, are in green, and the
little pea ornaments issuing therefrom are in white enamel (Pl. XLIV,
17). The work dates from the first years of the seventeenth century. The
gem it serves to enrich, a fine onyx cameo of Lucius Verus, is slightly
earlier. The choicest example of painted enamel of flower design in open
relief is certainly the mounting or frame of a magnificent pendant (No.
961) in the Bibliothèque Nationale, set with a cameo of Lucrezia de'
Medici, wife of Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara. This frame, quite unmatched
for its taste and skill, is formed of a garland of flowers, open-worked,
and enamelled in the utmost delicacy with white, pale yellow, and light
green enamel, heightened with reddish touches (Pl. XLIII, 6). Among
other jewels of the same style, of which there are quite a number, one
may mention the setting of an antique Roman cameo (Pl. XLIV, 15), and
the reverse of the onyx "George" of Charles II (Pl. XXVIII, 1) both
English work, at Windsor Castle[177]. Besides the two beautiful examples
of his work already noticed (p. 288), it is usual to associate with
Gilles Légaré the frame of birds and flowers, enamelled black and white,
that surrounds Petitot's portrait of Louis XIV in the Jones Collection
at South Kensington. The designs of Vauquer, also, seem to have been
followed in many similar kinds of enamelled jewels.
[177] These are described in the _Connoiseur_, V, p. 243.
[Illustration: _PLATE XLIII_ SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ENAMELLED MINIATURE
CASES, LOCKETS, ETC.]
The pendent miniature-cases or lockets of the seventeenth century are of
great interest. The best example of those enriched with champlevé enamel
is the Lyte Jewel (p. 303). The "pea-pod" style is well shown on the
back of a miniature-case containing a female portrait by Peter Oliver
(1601-1647) in the Dyce Collection at South Kensington (Pl. XLIII, 2).
It is enamelled _en plein_ with translucent green on a ground of matted
gold, with the pea-pod pattern in white, after an engraved design by the
French ornamentist Pierre Firens (1605-1625). This same style of
ornament is seen on a miniature-case _émaillé en résille sur verre_[178]
belonging to Mr. Pierpont Morgan. Enamel-work after the silhouette
engravings of the same period is represented by one of its principal
exponents, Jean Toutin of Châteaudun (1618), on the front and back of
a miniature-case (Plate XLIII, 1) in the possession of Mr. Pierpont
Morgan, ornamented with designs _en genre cosse de pois_ reserved in
gold on a ground of black enamel. Small plaques of "Louis Treize" enamel
painted in natural colours on a monochrome ground were frequently
employed for miniature-cases. A considerable number of these, of both
French and German (Augsburg) work, exist. English work is rarer: an
example, upon the cover of a miniature of Oliver Cromwell, painted with
roses and leaves in natural colours on a white ground, is preserved in
the University Galleries, Oxford. Enamelled flower designs modelled in
relief, sometimes on open-work ground, in the manner of Vauquer and
Légaré, are also found on lockets. An exquisite little example,
inscribed "O.C. 1653," belongs to Mr. Max Rosenheim. It contains an
enamelled miniature of Oliver Cromwell.
[178] See pp. 273 and 297.
Like the aigrette, an important jewel worn at this time was a breast
ornament, termed a _Sévigné_, after the celebrated lady of that name.
This ornament took the form of a bow or rosette of open-work, of
foliated design, generally of silver, set with small diamond splinters.
As the century advanced the work set with small stones and diamond
sparks in substantial mounts was replaced by open-work jewels, known as
"lazos" jewels, set with large flat stones, and ornaments formed of
several pieces--an upper part of tied bow or knot shape and hung with
pendants--all set with rose-cut stones. Much of this work, intended for
the display of diamonds and various coloured stones in imitation of
flowers, hails from Spain. It is admirably shown in Spanish
portraits--those, for example, by Velasquez, Coello, etc; in the large
series of Habsburg portraits preserved in the castle of Schönbrunn, in
Austria; and in portraits of the Medici family by the painter Sustermans
(1597-1681) in the Uffizi and Pitti galleries. It is here worthy of note
that still in the seventeenth century we find elaborate ornamentation
applied to the back of jewels--a notable feature in almost all jewellery
of the finest craftsmanship. A plain surface on this part of the jewel
was generally avoided by a charming use of the graver, or by means of
small panels of painted enamel.
Bracelets set with precious stones are generally of open-work of the
same style as the necklaces. Of those executed in enamel there is a good
French example at South Kensington (Plate XXXVII, 2). It is formed of
six medallions, each containing a crowned cypher alternating with
true-lover's knots. It may usefully be compared with Gilles Légaré's
designs for bracelets and chains on Plate 8 of his _Livre des
Ouvrages d'Orfévrerie_.
[Illustration: _PLATE XLIV_ RINGS, SLIDES AND PENDANTS SEVENTEENTH
AND EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES]
The finger rings of the early seventeenth century, as far as one
can judge from pictures, did not differ essentially from the late
sixteenth-century types; in fact many of the ornamental rings usually
ascribed to the sixteenth century really date from the first half of the
seventeenth. The majority of small niello designs engraved at this
period were patterns for the shoulders of rings, intended to be executed
in enamel by the champlevé process (Pl. XLI). Henri, son of Jean Toutin,
furnishes a couple of engravings for rings, of the year 1628, of which
the whole outer surface of the hoop is covered with designs reserved in
white on a black ground. De la Quewellerie of Amsterdam, 1635, has also
left the designs for a finger ring in the same style. The love for
"bouquets d'orfévrerie"--flower designs in coloured stones--finds
expression, towards the end of the century, in the _giardinetti_ ring,
the bezel of which is formed like a nosegay, a basket of flowers, or a
bunch of flowers springing from a vase. These floral designs are of
charming execution, and their coloured stones produce an extremely
pleasing effect. Many of these rings are Italian, but there are several
English examples at South Kensington (Pl. XXXVI, 9, 10).
Painted enamels in flower patterns are found not only on the shoulders
of rings, but covering the entire outer surface. Occasionally flowers
enamelled _à jour_ occur, the hoop of the ring being hollow. Lord
Falkland possesses a good example of one of these rings encircled with
coloured flowers (Pl. XLIV, 8). The hollow space is filled with hair.
Within the hoop is the posy _Difficulty sweetens enjoyment_. Mottoes or
posies of this kind were occasionally engraved on mediæval rings and on
those of the sixteenth century, but the majority of the large number of
rings on which such mottoes occur belong to the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Unlike the example just mentioned, these rings,
with the motto engraved inside them, usually have plain hoops, and were
used as engagement, and sometimes as wedding rings. The mottoes
generally rhyme, but are not remarkable for poetic skill, and they are
found constantly repeated. Numbers of the verses employed for the
purpose are given in Jones's _Finger-Ring Lore_, and in an article
published by Sir John Evans in _Longman's Magazine_ (1892). A few
examples will suffice: _As God decreed so we agreed; God above increase
our love; This take for my sake; The love is true I owe you; In thee my
choice I do rejoice._ Posy rings, like mourning rings, to be referred
to later, are almost exclusively English. As regards the ordinary
ornamental ring of the period, it is to be observed that the diamond,
which came so much to the front at this time, found a prominent place
on it. Towards the close of the century, though enamel-work is still
visible, the purpose of the ring, as at the present day, seems to have
been nothing more than for displaying the diamond on the finger, so far
as one may judge from some of Légaré's designs (Pl. XL, 2).
The girdle in the seventeenth century was still an important ornament
for ladies. The great portrait painters of the Low Countries present
ladies wearing massive linked chains terminating in elaborate pomanders.
Not infrequently the lady is shown, as in a picture by Gerard Douffet at
Munich, holding the pomander in her hand. A fine pomander is seen in a
portrait of a Flemish lady by Cornelis de Vos in the Wallace Collection,
and one of extraordinary beauty is worn by a Dutch lady in a splendid
picture by Frans Hals in the Cassel Gallery. Amongst the various
seventeenth-century girdles to be found in public collections, without
doubt the most remarkable are two examples, one in the Victoria and
Albert Museum and the other in the Wallace Collection. They represent
the species of enamel-work known as _émail en résille sur verre_, which
was employed during the latter part of the sixteenth and the early
seventeenth century for miniature and mirror cases--of which specimens
in the Morgan Collection and the Louvre have already been noticed--and
for the dials of watches. The girdle at South Kensington, of French work
of the early seventeenth century, is formed of twenty-one oblong and
slightly convex plates linked together by rosettes. These plates, of
silver, are filled with glass paste, which is backed with coloured
foils and inlaid with minute designs in translucent enamel on gold,
representing hunting and other country scenes. The chain in the Wallace
Collection, which might possibly have been worn as a neck-chain, is
almost identical in subject and design, save that the oblong links
number eighteen, while the rosettes uniting them are enamelled and set
with garnets.
The jewel which best represents the various kinds of decoration in
the way of engraving and enamel-work applied to seventeenth-century
ornaments is the watch. From the early part of the century the round
form, more or less flat, which has been preserved from that time to
the present day, began to be generally adopted for watches. All the
different species of work employed on miniature-cases are found on watch
dial-plates and cases. The interesting _cosse de pois_ ornament is
represented in the British Museum on the dial-plate of a watch by D.
Bouquet of London, of about 1630-1640. It is executed by the rare
process just described--the pattern being inlaid on gold upon a ground
of green glass or enamel. Another watch, by Vautier of Blois, has the
centre of the dial enriched with translucent enamel in gold cloisons on
opaque white. Among watches with richly decorated cases there is in the
same collection another by Bouquet, beautifully enamelled with flowers
in relief, of various colours and kinds, on a black ground encrusted
with small diamonds. Besides the names already mentioned, the best-known
enamellers of watch-cases from about 1680 to 1700 were the brothers
Huault, or Huaud, of Geneva, who worked also at Berlin.
No more examples need be given of the different species of enamel
applied to seventeenth-century jewellery. Enough has been said to
demonstrate the importance and attractiveness of the comparatively
little-known enamel-work of this time.
During the greater part of the seventeenth century the watch was simply
hung by a chain to the girdle, as we see it on the two portraits (about
1645) of the wife of John Tradescant the younger in the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford. The elaborate chatelaines which attached the watch to
women's girdles, and the chains which hung from the fob-pocket of men,
belong rather to the eighteenth century; but they were already in use,
and from them were suspended that most attractive article of jewellery,
the seal, which was then beginning to take the place of the signet ring.
Evelyn, in his _Mundus Muliebris_, or _Voyage to Marryland_ (1690),
gives a rhyming catalogue of a lady's toilet, and alludes to the
chatelaine:--
To which a bunch of onyxes,
And many a golden seal there dangles,
Mysterious cyphers, and new fangles.
The designs of Légaré contain several charming pendent seals having
their shanks or handles finely worked with monograms and other patterns
(Pl. XL). Seals, however, together with the chatelaine and the rest of
its accompaniments, will be spoken of later.
There remain various pieces of jewellery, such as buckles, clasps, or
brooches, which were sprinkled on different parts of the dress. Like the
sévigné or breast ornament, they often take the form of a tied bow, and
find a place on the arms and shoulders, and in rows down the front of
the bodice and the skirt. In the latter part of the century jewelled
buckles replaced the rosette of ribbons on the shoe. Thus again Evelyn
speaks of:--
Diamond buckles too,
For garters, and as rich for shoo
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A manteau girdle, ruby buckle,
And brilliant diamond rings for knuckle.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A saphire bodkin for the hair,
Or sparkling facet diamonds there:
Then turquois, ruby, emrauld rings
For fingers, and such petty things;
As diamond pendants for the ears,
Must needs be had, or two pearl pears,
Pearl neck-lace, large and oriental,
And diamond, and of amber pale.
ENGLAND, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
In England in the time of James I, the love of personal ornament, among
men as well as women, was even more widespread than before. King James,
and also his Queen, who herself possessed a highly extravagant taste for
jewellery, set a public example by their patronage of the jewellers;
while the nobility outbid one another in lavish expenditure. John
Chamberlain, an entertaining correspondent of the day, writes thus in
1608 to a friend unable to attend a masque: "Whatsoever the devise may
be, and what success they may have in their dancing, yet you should be
sure to have seen great riches in jewels, when one lady, and that under
a baroness, is said to be furnished for better than a hundred thousand
pounds; and the lady Arabella goes beyond her, and the Queen must not
come behind."
Contemporary chroniclers have left no descriptions that show precisely
how the King's own person reflected the fashions in jewellery of his
day, yet we know that he possessed an almost childish admiration for
"bravery," as it then was termed, particularly such as was intended for
the decoration of those about his person. A very curious instance of
the King's interest in these matters is to be found in the elaborate
instructions he issued concerning the despatch of a large consignment
of jewels for the use of the Prince of Wales, and his favourite,
Buckingham, on their memorable journey to Spain in 1623. In the spring
of that year orders were given to several officers of State, and with
them the jeweller Heriot, to repair to the Tower and make a selection of
the finest jewels there--some fit for a woman, and others for the Prince
to wear. Among them a "jewel called the Three Brothers, five or six
faire jewels to be worn in men's hats, same to be of £6,000 or £7,000
value, and none under; the five pendent diamonds that were the Queen's,
whether they remain upon a string or be made up upon a feather. If none
of the Targett fashion for hats, the jewels to be broke up to make
them."[179]
[179] _Historical MSS. Commission_, IV, p. 286.
To his son and favourite the King then addresses a letter, in which he
tells them that he had been choosing "the jewells I am to send you,
whereof my Babie is to present some to his Mistresse, and some of the
best hee is to wear himselfe, and the next best hee will lend to my
bastard brat [Buckingham] to wear." On their removal from the Tower the
jewels are carefully inventoried, and Heriot is set to work to refashion
them. After a fortnight's work he promises that they will be finished in
a few days. So, on the 18th of March, "the jewels," we learn, "have been
delivered." "Mr. Herriot is gone to assist in packing them, and has sat
up day and night to get them completed."[180]
[180] _Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, March 18, 1623.
The King then writes that he is sending for his "Babie's owin wearing
... the Three Brethren,[181] that you knowe full well, but newlie sette,
and the Mirroure of Frawnce, the fellowe of the Portugall Dyamont,
quhiche I wolde wishe you to weare alone in your hatte with a litle
blakke feather." To his "sweete Gosseppe" he sends "a fair table
dyamonde." "I have hung," he says, "a faire peare pearle to it for
wearing in thy hatte or quhair thow pleasis."[182]
[181] See p. 209.
[182] Nichols, _Progresses of James I_, IV, p. 830. A complete
list of the jewels removed from the Tower is given in _Archæologia_,
XXI, p. 148.
As the result of extensive transactions both with the Crown and the
nobility the jewellers of the day seem to have reaped a rich harvest;
and they attained to positions of eminence by adding banking to their
more ancient art of working in the precious metals. Of the royal
jewellers, George Heriot of Edinburgh--rendered immortal by Sir Walter
Scott as "Jingling Geordie"--the founder of Heriot's Hospital, comes
first to mind. Heriot received in 1597 a life appointment as jeweller to
Queen Anne of Denmark, and in 1601 James made him his own jeweller. He
followed the King to London, and in 1603, together with William Herrick
and John Spilman, was appointed jeweller to the King, Queen, and Prince,
at a yearly salary of £50. Immense sums of money were paid him both as
interest on loans and for the jewels supplied to their Majesties, of
which long lists have been preserved. Sir John Spilman, a German by
birth and one of the chief jewellers of Queen Elizabeth, executed great
quantities of jewellery at the royal commands; but Sir William Herrick
seems to have obtained an even larger share of the royal patronage.
Queen Anne of Denmark, who spent an enormous amount on personal
ornaments, received £36,000 worth from him alone. "Queen Anne," writes a
contemporary shortly after her death, "hath left a world of brave jewels
behind; and although one Piers, an outlandish man, hath run away with
many, she hath left all to the Prince [Charles] and none to the Queen of
Bohemia [her daughter Elizabeth]." In fact, so many of her jewels were
embezzled that scarcely a vestige remained, though Herrick produced
the models of them and swore to their delivery.[183] The poet Robert
Herrick, Sir William Herrick's nephew, was a jeweller-apprentice to his
uncle for several years, and his early training seems to have left a
strong impression on him, for his poems throughout betray a love and
appreciation for jewels. Among other jewellers whose names occur in the
State Papers, the following may be mentioned: Philip Jacobson, Arnold
Lulls, John Acton, and John Williams--a maker of gold neck-chains and
pendent medals.
[183] Nichols, _op. cit._, III, p. 548.
As far as the actual productions of the Jacobean jewellers are concerned
we meet with comparatively few examples; this want, however, is
supplied, to a certain extent, by means of a beautiful set of
contemporary drawings for jewellery preserved in the Victoria and Albert
Museum--the work of Arnold Lulls, a jeweller whose name occurs several
times in the royal accounts. In conjunction with Sir William Herrick,
Lulls supplied the King in 1605, as New Year's gifts for the Royal
Family, with jewels to the amount of £3,000. For a certain jewel of
diamonds, with pearls pendent, and two dozen buttons supplied by him
and Jacobson, and bestowed by His Majesty on the Queen at the Princess
Mary's christening the same year, Lulls was paid £1,550.[184]
[184] Devon (F.), _Issues of the Exchequer, James I_
(_Pell records_), p. 49.
Lulls' designs, drawn in water-colours in a parchment book, number
altogether forty-one. The majority, set with large table-cut stones and
hung with huge pear-shaped drops, are for pendent ornaments, for wearing
either on the neck-chain, or as earrings, or else upon the hat. Among
the drawings are two designs for a "rope of round pearls, great and
orient"--forty-seven in number--given to the Queen, and several designs
for the above-mentioned diamond and pearl ornament given her in 1605;
two drawings for Georges of the Order of the Garter given to Prince
Henry; and designs for a large balas ruby with pearl pendant mentioned
in an inventory of the Prince's jewels.[185] The remaining drawings
include four of jewelled aigrettes set with diamonds, rubies, emeralds,
and sapphires (Plate XXX, 1). These remarkable contemporary
illustrations of English jewellery reveal the change then beginning to
take place in the character of personal ornaments. Yet, though precious
stones are much in evidence, in almost every case their settings are
coloured, while the design of each jewel is completed with charming
scrollwork enriched with polychrome enamels.
[185] _Archæologia_, XV, p. 19.
The finest Jacobean jewel in existence is the famous miniature-case
known as the Lyte Jewel, now in the Waddesdon Bequest in the British
Museum. Miniature-cases of gold elaborately enamelled, with hinged
fronts often set with jewels, were as much in vogue as in Elizabeth's
time; and records show that many precious "picture cases" of the kind
were made for James I as presents to personal friends or to ambassadors.
The cover of the Lyte Jewel is of open-work, filled with the letter R,
with diamonds on the outside and brilliant enamel within. The back is a
white enamelled plate with a design in fine gold lines and ruby enamel,
the edge being enamelled alternately ruby colour and sapphire-blue.
Within is a portrait of James I ascribed to Isaac Oliver. The first
owner of the jewel was Mr. Thomas Lyte. This gentleman drew up a long
pedigree of King James I's ancestry and presented it to the King, who
was so much pleased with it that he rewarded Mr. Lyte with "his picture
in gold, set with diamonds, with gracious thanks." The jewel passed from
the Lyte family some generations ago into the hands of the Duke of
Hamilton. At the dispersal of the Hamilton Palace collection it was
bought for the sum of £2,835 by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, who
bequeathed it with his other art treasures to the British Museum. A
contemporary portrait of Thomas Lyte, dated 1611, in the possession of
Sir Henry Maxwell Lyte shows him wearing it suspended from a brown
ribbon round his neck. The jewel is the same, save that the drop at the
bottom, now a single pearl, was originally trilobed. This exquisite
jewel was probably the work of one of the court jewellers mentioned
above. The design on the back, which corresponds in style with
engravings of Daniel Mignot and the other earlier designers in the
"silhouette" manner, exemplifies the influence exercised by the
ornamentists on all the jewellery of the period (Pl. XLI).
Throughout the reign of Charles I ornaments in the same style as those
portrayed in Lulls' drawings appear to have remained in use. All
jewellery was largely influenced by the pattern-books issued from the
goldsmith-engravers' shops of Germany, France and Flanders. Several
jewellers themselves came over, as did the well-known Michel Le Blon, in
the early part of the reign. In 1635 the famous goldsmith-enamellers
Petitot and Bordier likewise visited England, and doubtless made their
influence felt on the enamelled jewellery of the time. The period, on
the whole, though it terminated disastrously for all the sumptuary arts,
seems to have been a prolific one in the production of jewellery.
The chief business was shared by the court jewellers--James Heriot
(half-brother of George Heriot), Philip Jacobson, Thomas Simpson, John
Acton, and William Terrey. Though he showered commissions on these
jewellers, the King had commenced early in his reign the dispersal of
the immense hoards of jewellery brought together by his predecessors;
and by selling and pawning raised large sums of money, to make good the
deficiencies caused by the rupture with Parliament. Subsequently, during
the Civil War, to relieve his personal necessities, numbers of jewels
were sold at home, and many more pawned and sent over to the dealers
at Amsterdam, who broke them up for the intrinsic value of their gold
and precious stones; while the remainder were put under the hammer by a
commission appointed after the King's death to dispose of the works of
art in the royal collection.
[Illustration: _PLATE XLV_ PAGE FROM THE LEDGER OF SIR FRANCIS CHILD,
JEWELLER TO WILLIAM III]
The fact that all classes during the struggle parted with their
valuables to assist their respective champions has rendered jewellery
extremely rare. Women, and even little children, voluntarily sent their
necklaces and brooches "for the King"; while Cromwell was assisted in
the same manner.
Great luxury in jewellery appears to have been associated with the Court
of Charles II. The King himself bestowed magnificent presents on his
mistresses. Amongst his jewellers was "that prince of goldsmiths," Sir
Robert Vyner, who made the crown jewels. Later on King Charles had as
court jeweller the celebrated French traveller and gem merchant Sir John
Chardin, who settled in London with an immense collection of precious
stones acquired in the East. Another eminent jeweller of the time was
the banker Alderman Edward Backwell, whose old books, still preserved,
are full of interesting accounts for jewels supplied during the
Commonwealth and the reign of Charles II. The religious troubles
which had led Chardin to quit France induced a number of other French
jewellers, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, to
establish themselves in England. These foreign jewellers, like the army
of craftsmen in every field that at all times swarmed into England, soon
accustomed themselves to their environment and became as English as the
English themselves. English work has ever had its own distinctive mark,
for whatever the native craftsmen themselves borrowed they speedily made
their own.
The chief jeweller of the latter part of the century was Sir Francis
Child--one of the founders of the great banking house that still bears
his name. He was appointed court jeweller to William III in 1689, and
supplied the King with a great quantity of jewellery. Much of this was
intended as presents to ambassadors; for jewellery, it appears, played a
very prominent part in the diplomatic affairs of the day. Even the most
trifling negotiation cost the Exchequer an enormous amount in presents
of this kind, while foreign envoys were likewise obliged to disburse
large sums for the same purpose. Lists of these gifts and of other
jewels are preserved in the ledgers of this ancient firm of
goldsmith-bankers, and have been published by Mr. F. G. Hilton Price in
_The Marygold by Temple Bar_. A set of drawings for jewels of about the
year 1674 from Sir Francis Child's ledger, with particulars concerning
them in the great goldsmith's own handwriting, is here reproduced
(Pl. XLV).
[Illustration: Design for a pendent miniature-frame
by Pierre Marchant.]