Mastery of Design: A Snuffbox Commemorating the 1911 Coronation

Snuffbox
1911
Garrard & Co.
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

From the archives of The Royal Collection, we have this important snuffbox of gold, enamel and diamonds by Sebastian Henry Garrard (of Garrard's, as one would guess).  The snuffbox, boasting watercolor on ivory portraits of King George V and Queen Mary, was made in 1911 expressly for the coronation.  

But, it gets better.  The piece was later engraved, on the inside of the gold lid, per Queen Mary's instructions and presented by Her majesty upon the day of the coronation of her son, "Bertie," (better known to us as King George VI) in 1937.  Following the whole "Abdication Kerfuffle" (TM), I'm sure Mary was relieved to have Bertie on the throne and happily presented this handsome present to her Number 2 son.  The 1937 engraving reads:

To 

King George VI. 

in remembrance of his Coronation, 

from his devoted Mother, 

Mary R. 

May 12th 1937.

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

The hinged, oval, gold and enamel box features a lid inset with glazed oval miniatures of Their Majesties, framed with rose cut diamonds, surmounted by a diamond and enamel crown, and with a diamond-set monogram below.  Queen Mary is depicted in a white gown with Garter, and her favorite pearls.  George V is shown, facing slight left in his uniform, Garter and assorted medals and orders.

Each side of the box is dazzling as the sides are alive with blue enamel with borders of white and green foliage and flower-heads.  The reverse, or underside, shows masterful engine turning applied with a silver and enamel Garter star. 

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

Unfolding Pictures: The Georges Barbier Fan, 1912

Hand Fan
Georges Barbier and Madame Paquin
French, 1911
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Georges Barbier (1882-1932), a celebrated Parisian fashion illustrator of the early Twentieth Century, collaborated with the most avant-garde fashion designers in France at the time. Barbier worked with such famous names as Paul Poiret and Madame Paquin (1869-1936) whose elaborate oriental costumes for the Ballets Russes tremendously influenced fashion in the 1910s.

Madame Paquin and Barbier worked together to design a series of fans on that Eastern theme. This decorated fan of printed and hand-colored paper and hand-painted silk is an example of the collaboration. Looking ahead to the designs which would dominate the Art Deco ideals of the 1920s, the fan features sticks and guards of bone which have been adorned with painted grapes and butterflies. Tassels of mulit-colored silks hanf from the gold rivet. A woman is also depicted. She wears a headdress which is identical to one which was designed by Madame Paquin. When folded, this fan, made in 1911, displays a zig-zag pattern between the guards.  

Mastery of Design: A Snuffbox Commemorating the 1911 Coronation

Snuffbox
1911
Garrard & Co.
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

As you all know, I peruse the archives of the Royal Collection each day(usually around 2:00 AM) in search of new additions as the vast treasures within are newly photographed and displayed for the public.  

I'm quite thrilled, on this, the (day after the) anniversary of the 1911 coronation, to have found, newly added to the archives of The Royal Collection, this important snuffbox of gold, enamel and diamonds by Sebastian Henry Garrard (of Garrard's, as one would guess).  The snuffbox, boasting watercolor on ivory portraits of King George V and Queen Mary, was made in 1911 expressly for the coronation.  

But, it gets better.  The piece was later engraved, on the inside of the gold lid, per Queen Mary's instructions and presented by Her majesty upon the day of the coronation of her son, "Bertie," (better known to us as King George VI) in 1937.  Following the whole "Abdication Kerfuffle" (TM), I'm sure Mary was relieved to have Bertie on the throne and happily presented this handsome present to her Number 2 son.  The 1937 engraving reads:

To 

King George VI. 

in remembrance of his Coronation, 

from his devoted Mother, 

Mary R. 

May 12th 1937.

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

The hinged, oval, gold and enamel box features a lid inset with glazed oval miniatures of Their Majesties, framed with rose cut diamonds, surmounted by a diamond and enamel crown, and with a diamond-set monogram below.  Queen Mary is depicted in a white gown with Garter, and her favorite pearls.  George V is shown, facing slight left in his uniform, Garter and assorted medals and orders.

Each side of the box is dazzling as the sides are alive with blue enamel with borders of white and green foliage and flower-heads.  The reverse, or underside, shows masterful engine turning applied with a silver and enamel Garter star. 

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

So, yay for this!  I was glad to find it!

And, thus, we begin another week.  See you all here tomorrow for some new stuff, the next chapter of Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square, and a "Treat of the Week."

Unfolding Pictures: Queen Mary's Coronation Fan, 1911

Queen Mary's Coronation Fan, 1911

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Presented by the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers to Queen Mary on the occasion of the coronation on June 22, 1911, this fan of a cream cotton lace leaf is supported by plain blond tortoiseshell guards and sticks. Upon the front guard is an applied gold monogram of “MR” surmounted by a crown. The bottom of the fan is punctuated by a gold pin with diamond heads and a gold loop

This lace fan lead is painted with four shields of arms and a decorative border containing the rose, thistle and shamrock. Very often in the inventory of the Royal Collection, this fan was noted by Queen Mary as being “in use” throughout her lifetime. So, obviously, it was a favorite. It is shown in photographs as being used in India during the Durbar celebrations.

The fan was designed by the industrial designer, fan-maker and fan historian George Woolliscroft Rhead while the leaf was created in the workshop of Miss Fowler of Honiton. The guards and sticks were carved by Robert Gleeson under the direction of Mr Joseph Ettlinger, Past Master of the Fan Makers Company. The original box survives.

A similar fan was created by the Honiton lace-makers at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s (the Queen Mother) coronation in 1937. That leaf, however, incorporates roses, thistles and ferns and was designed by the niece of Miss Fowler.

Object of the Day: A J. Beagles & Co. Postcard of King George V

Let’s start the week with our old pal, King George V. He’s looking quite dapper on the front of this postcard which was “Printed in England by J. Beagles & Co., Ltd. of London.” The publisher, like many of the era, wants to make sure we understand that this is a “guaranteed real photograph.” Beagles, who claimed to be “Best in the World” was working in a market which was flooded with “real photograph” postcards, led by Tuck & Sons, so, they were quick to label the reverse of their cards as being the real thing.

I’d place this card as having been printed around the time of the 1911 Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary. I rather like this image of King George V. It shows the monarch in the clothes he’d wear around the palace. He looks quite casual for a king, and this makes him (seem) approachable. While George and Mary reveled in the tradition and ceremony of the monarchy, they were considered more in-tune with the people than their predecessors, so, the image is quite fitting.

I didn't scan the back because it, frankly, just looks like a postcard.  There's nothing too exciting about it.

Unfolding Pictures: The Georges Barbier Fan, 1912

Hand Fan
Georges Barbier and Madame Paquin
French, 1911
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Georges Barbier (1882-1932), a celebrated Parisian fashion illustrator of the early Twentieth Century, collaborated with the most avant-garde fashion designers in France at the time. Barbier worked with such famous names as Paul Poiret and Madame Paquin (1869-1936) whose elaborate oriental costumes for the Ballets Russes tremendously influenced fashion in the 1910s.

Madame Paquin and Barbier worked together to design a series of fans on that Eastern theme. This decorated fan of printed and hand-colored paper and hand-painted silk is an example of the collaboration. Looking ahead to the designs which would dominate the Art Deco ideals of the 1920s, the fan features sticks and guards of bone which have been adorned with painted grapes and butterflies. Tassels of mulit-colored silks hanf from the gold rivet. A woman is also depicted. She wears a headdress which is identical to one which was designed by Madame Paquin. When folded, this fan, made in 1911, displays a zig-zag pattern between the guards.  

Object of the Day: A Postcard of King George V and Queen Mary

Click on image to enlarge.

In honor of the 119th anniversary of the marriage of King George V and Queen Mary, let’s take a look at another postcard from my growing collection of Royalty-related ephemera. This card by Davidson Brothers Correspondence of London and New York features photographic portraits of King George V and Queen Mary in commemoration of their 1911 Coronation. 

Sent from a Mrs. Maskill in Doncaster to her mother in 1911, the posted card bears a stamp—brand new at the time—with an image of George V.

Gifts of Grandeur: Queen Mary's Coronation Fan, 1911

Queen Mary's Coronation Fan
Honiton, England, 1911
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

This lovely fan with its cream cotton lace leaf, and plain blond tortoiseshell guards and sticks was made for the 1911 Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary. The front guard of the fan has been applied with the gold monogram “MR” (Mary Regina) surmounted by a crown. The fan ends in a gold pin with diamond heads and a gold loop.

The fan was presented by the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers to Queen Mary on the day of the Coronation: June 22, 1911. The lace for the fan was made in Honiton and features a design with four shields of arms and a decorative border containing the rose, thistle and shamrock. It was a favorite of Queen Mary. Records from the Royal Collection show that the fan was frequently “in use,” notably when Queen Mary took the fan to India for use during the Durbar celebrations.

A similar fan was made in 1937 for Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) on the occasion of the coronation she shared with her husband, King George VI. The 1937 fan was said to have been made by the children of those who made the fan for Queen Mary in 1911. 

Object of the Day: A Souvenir of the Coronation of King George V

I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne. 
--King George V




I recently acquired this handsome, but, curious souvenir from the 1911 coronation of King George V. Oddly enough, this pennant was not made in the U.K., but according to the text on the reverse was made in Boyerton, Pennsylvania. I’m not quite sure why. 

The pennant is machine sewn of red, white and blue felt which has been adorned with glittered gold paint and an applied photograph roundel of His Majesty King George V. The date of George’s coronation, June 22, 1911, is emblazoned on the bottom of the front.

I thought this was a fitting “Object of the Day” as we begin the Central Weekend of the festivities of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee (June 2-5) in honor of her sixty years on the thrones of the Empire. Her Majesty was the favorite grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary. She referred to her paternal grandfather as “Grandfather England,” and the King—until his death in 1936—was concerned that the accession of his eldest son, “David,” the Prince of Wales (later, briefly, King Edward VIII, and, later still the Duke of Windsor—to me “The Great Kerfuffler” ™) would prevent “Lilibet,” as he called his eldest granddaughter, from one day becoming Queen. Thanks, however, to the abdication, Princess Elizabeth ascended as Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father, “Bertie,” King George VI, in 1952 (coronation on June 2, 1953). In the end, King George V and Queen Mary got their wish—their granddaughter was Queen, and remains so to this day. 

If you’re as much of a Royal history buff as I, or, if you would like to join the world in commemorating Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, I’d like to suggest that you visit our online store and browse the host of Diamond Jubilee items available there amongst a wealth of other fun Royal stuff.

Object of the Day: A Tuck’s Postcard Depicting Queen Mary

Until the Second World War, the leading name in British postcards was Raphael Tuck & Sons.  Together, we’ve looked at several Tucks’ Postcards in my collection.  Most of them pertain to King George V and Queen Mary, well, because that’s what interests me.  Though Tuck & Sons did produce a good many royalty-themed cards, their inventory covered almost any popular or fashionable subject matter.

Let’s take a look at this card depicting Queen Mary arranging a vase of flowers—carnations (which she really didn’t care for) and what appears to be lilies.  What I like about this image is that though it’s clearly staged, it tries to give the appearance of being candid and casual.  Her Majesty is dressed in a loose, fur-trimmed, lace robe as opposed to the formal gowns and jewels which she usually wore for portraits.  Giving a soft smile, it’s clear that Queen Mary was trying to look as informal as possible, showing that she understood what the photographer was trying to accomplish.  She is wearing the jewels that she usually donned to knock around the palace:  a stack of diamond, gold and ruby bangles which she particularly favored, her favorite pearl earrings and a tight pearl choker worn at the middle of her throat.

The front of the card simply says, “HER MAJESTY QUEEN MARY.”  And credit for the photo is given as “Camera Photography by E.O. HOPPÉ.

The reverse reads:

Along the edge…

Copyright, London    Printed in England      ROYAL PORTRAIT SERIES

Raphael Tuck & Sons     “REAL PHOTOGRAPH”    Postcard No. 3742

And, along the top…

TUCK’S POST CARD

CARTE POSTALE

H.M. QUEEN MARY – One of her happiest portraits taken at Buckingham Palace.  Her Majesty is the only daughter of the late Duke and Duchess of Teck and was married to King George July 6^th, 1893.  Crowned at Westminster Abbey, June 22^nd, 1911.

Object of the Day: A Tobacco Silk of Queen Mary

Much like Cigarette Cards, “tobacco silks” were premium items which were inserted into packages of cigarettes as “freebies.”  Meant to be collected, these silks were either hand-colored or color-printed and depicted fashionable scenes or portraits of popular people of the era.  These items flourished from about 1908 to 1916 and were joined by tobacco flannels and leathers as well.

This tobacco silk was produced in Britain between 1910 and 1911 for the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.  Here, we see H.M. Queen Mary dressed exquisitely in the sort of pale gown for which she became famous.  She wears, in addition to some of her favorite jewelry and her garter badges, the Russian Fringe Tiara.

I don’t know which tobacco company produced this item, but it’s a lovely addition to the many other images of Queen Mary which pepper my home.  

Do you want to see Mary of Teck's noble visage in your daily life?  You can.  Take a look at our "Teck Support" designs in our online store.  

Object of the Day: “God Save the King,” A Postcard from the 1911 Coronation

When one considers the postcard craze which swept Britain in the late Nineteenth and Earlier Twentieth Century, the first name that comes to mind is that of Sir Raphael Tuck.  Well, at least for me, that’s the case, but I admit that I think about antique postcards more than most.

Sir Raphael Tuck, founder of the thriving Raphael Tuck & Sons printing concern was, in many ways, the father of commercial art.  This clever fellow, aided by his wife and seven children, according to the “London Times, “opened up a new field of labor for artists, lithographers, engravers, printers, ink and paste board makers, and several other trade classes” when he opened his business making postcards.  The cards focused on popular subjects, the Monarchy, theatre and other contemporary passions with beautiful, engaging color images.  Tuck’s sons would compete to see who could commercially market the most cards.  Each day, a tally of sales was taken and, the next morning, the winner would receive the largest boiled egg at breakfast.  Sounds like good incentive to me!  I know Bertie would sell quite a few postcards if that was the prize.

I have a good many Tuck’s postcards.  The majority of mine are related to King George V and Queen Mary, and especially their 1911 coronation.  Let’s take a look at one.

This one features a portrait oval of His Majesty between the Union Jack and the Royal Standard.  Beneath him, in a “parchment” frame are two verses from “God Save the King.”

God save our gracious King,

Long live our noble King,

God save the King.

Send him victorious,

Happy and Glorious,

Long to reign over us.

God save the King.

Thy choicest gifts in store,

On him be pleased to pour;

Long may he reign.

May he defend our laws,

And ever give us cause

To sing with heart and voice

God save the King.

The reverse reads:

The “CORONATION” Series,

Raphael Tuck & Sons’ “OILETTE” Postcard 9869

ART PUBLISHERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND QUEEN

Printed in England.

By Appointment.  (beneath the Royal Arms)

TUCK’S POSTCARD

CARTE POSTALE     POSTKARTE

His Most Excellent Majesty George V,

by the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of

Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions

beyond the Seas, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, etc.

Born June 3^rd, 1865.  Married July 6^th, 1898

Succeeded to the Throne May 6^th, 1910

Crowned June 22^nd, 1911

Object of the Day: George and Mary Post Card Album

 

I recently purchased this beautiful leather album to add to my collection of souvenirs from the 1911 coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.  The album of red leather was made to hold postcards and contains many stiff, green pages with a series of various slits to hold the cards.

The cover is embossed with the symbols of the Empire—shamrocks, roses and thistles—which have been gilt, along with the Royal arms.  Actual photographs of the King and Queen have been pasted in oval indentations.  It’s really quite handsome and will be an appropriate home for my many George and Mary themed post cards.

Do you have an affection for Queen Mary.  If so, our exclusive “Teck Support” designs would be perfect for you.