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IX.—Some further Notice of the Diamond Signet of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I.; of the King's Diamond; and of the Sapphire Signet believed to be that of Mary Queen of William III

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2012

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Extract

On the 20th November, 1880, I had the honour of exhibiting to the Society at their meeting the diamond signet, engraved by order of King Charles I., with “ore Armes” and with the “tres of the name of or deerest Consort the Queene on each side,” and of reading some descriptive and other notes on this interesting historical relic.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1887

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References

page 104 note a Equal to nearly £1,100 of present value.

page 105 note a By an unfortunate error at p. 395 of my former paper this monogram was wrongly printed instead of as it is seen on the diamond.

page 105 note b This monogram occurs on a silver jetton in the possession of the President of our Society. On it two shields are represented conjunctly and beneath one royal crown; on the dexter are the Arms of England; on the sinister are those of France; beneath is the barred crowned, on either side of which is a laurel spray. The surrounding legend reads. HENR MAR BORBON D. G. MAG BRIT FRAN ET HIB REG.

On the reverse a flowering tree—a rose ?—is represented rising and spreading above cypress, cedar, laurel, and other trees; the sea, on which are ships, is seen in the. distance. The motto surrounding SVPEREMINET OMNES. explains this device.

This jetton is referred to by Mr. Syer Cuming as figured in Pinkerton's Medallic History, plate 15, and noted in my former paper at page 395.

page 106 note a Purchased for them, as I have since learned, by a person named Harris, their brother's tutor. (C. D. E. F.)

page 108 note a Tassie, the well-known maker of glass pastes from the antique, &c. may have been the author of some of these. In 1783 he made a cameo portrait of the Earl of Buchan.

It is stated that one Bulters, an old engraver at Edinburgh, was the producer of some of the copies engraved on hard stones.

page 110 note a On a letter of instructions to Mr. Denham, 10th May, 1649, Henrietta Maria signs in a monogram formed of the letter M, with E on the last limb, and crossed by a bar to form the H. Mus. Brit. Jure Emptionis 19,399, fo. 72.

page 111 note a Up to 1815 there was a Secretary of State for Scotland, who had possession of the Great Seal, &c. &c. When that office was abolished the clerks (who were lawyers) formed themselves into the “Signet.” The Scotch regalia, hidden till 1818, was then placed in the regalia room.

page 112 note a See my former paper, Archaeologia, XLVII. p. 407.

page 113 note a Some of the letters published by the Marquis of Bristol in the Camden Miscellany, vol. v. 1864, are sealed with the same signet, an engraving of which, with fac-simile of the autograph, are given.

page 114 note a This George, worked in cameo on a superb onyx, is now in the possession of the Duke of Wellington.

page 114 note b In the Edinburgh Evening Courant of 16th June, 1817, is a copy of a letter written by Charles II. from Brussels, 28th May, 1658, borrowing 501., sealed with an oval (? lozenge) about three-eighths of an inch long.

page 115 note a In the Memoire de Madame de Motteville (Camden Miscellany, vol. viii. p. 23), we read: “Elle mit touttes ses pièreries en gage, et de cet argent,” &c. and again, p. 27, “Nous luy avons veu vendre touttes ses hardes l'une après l'autre, ces meuhles et le reste de ses pièreries, et engager jusques aux moindres choses pour pouvoir subsister quelques jours de plus.”