Monday, November 4, 2013

Mastery of Design: A Faceted Citrine and Amethyst Seal



Seal of Citrine, Gold and Amethyst
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust and
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click on images for larger size.





Our chums at the Royal Collection Trust list this magnificent piece only as a:

Faceted citrine and gold seal with amythyst matrix carved with rampant greyhound holding pennant.

That's great.  After all, that's exactly what it is.  However, the description doesn't tell us when it was made or to whom it belonged or how it came to be in the Royal Collection.

So, I shall speculate.

Of course, it came back to the Royal Collection via Queen Mary, consort of King George V, because EVERYTHING did.  So, that's settled.

I'd like to guess that the seal may have originally been used by King Henry VII whose standards included a red dragon and a white greyhound.  I could be entirely wrong.

If anyone has any ideas, let me know. 



Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Via the Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II


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