Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Glossary
- Note to the reader
- Preface
- 1 Magnificence and Princely Virtue
- 2 The Jewel House
- 3 The King’s Inheritance
- 4 ‘Heaven Smiles, Earth Rejoices’
- 5 ‘Defender of the Faith’
- 6 Royal Banquets
- 7 ‘Rich, Fierce and Greedy for Glory’
- 8 Thomas Wolsey, Patron of Goldsmiths
- 9 The Field of Cloth of Gold
- 10 Holbein and the ‘Antique’
- 11 The Family Silver
- 12 Cromwell, the Tower and the Goldsmiths
- 13 Dissolution and Augmentation
- 14 ‘Most Avaricious of Men’
- 15 ‘Sic transit gloria mundi’: The Fate of Henry VIII’s Plate and Jewels
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Glossary
- Note to the reader
- Preface
- 1 Magnificence and Princely Virtue
- 2 The Jewel House
- 3 The King’s Inheritance
- 4 ‘Heaven Smiles, Earth Rejoices’
- 5 ‘Defender of the Faith’
- 6 Royal Banquets
- 7 ‘Rich, Fierce and Greedy for Glory’
- 8 Thomas Wolsey, Patron of Goldsmiths
- 9 The Field of Cloth of Gold
- 10 Holbein and the ‘Antique’
- 11 The Family Silver
- 12 Cromwell, the Tower and the Goldsmiths
- 13 Dissolution and Augmentation
- 14 ‘Most Avaricious of Men’
- 15 ‘Sic transit gloria mundi’: The Fate of Henry VIII’s Plate and Jewels
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The seeds that led to this book were planted long ago. In the autumn of 1994 I went to a small exhibition about Lorenzo de’ Medici at the Accademia Italiana in London. I might well have missed it. Its opening hours were not ideal and the reviews had not been compelling, but I found myself passing and I popped in.
It turned out that I recognised many of the objects from existing publications, but one always looks with new eyes when seeing familiar objects ‘in the flesh’ for the first time. Among the exhibits was a silver-gilt mounted and enamelled rock-crystal reliquary that was labelled ‘Italian, probably Siena, c. 1490’. My first thought on peering at it in the showcase was that the mounts did not look obviously Italian. I wondered if it might in fact have been made north of the Alps and maybe a little later than the suggested date. And as I looked I spotted what appeared to be hallmarks of some sort on the cover. Had the piece been turned around the other way I would not have seen these and would probably have given it no further thought. But it occurred to me that it might, just might, be possible to identify the marks if one considered possibilities other than Italy. So I asked for permission to examine it.
Consent was eventually given and the piece was made available to me after the exhibition closed. I went along with my assistant, Lucy Morton, and we looked, first of all, at the marks. These were not easy to read as they were partly struck on an uneven surface. But it soon became clear that they were in fact those of London, with the date letter for 1511–12 and the maker’s mark of a cross in a shield. I then turned to the enamelled decoration and realised that it comprised red and white roses and pomegranates: Tudor royal badges and the personal badge of Katherine of Aragon.
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- Information
- 'A Marvel to Behold': Gold and Silver at the Court of Henry VIII , pp. xxx - xxxiiPublisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2020