I really didn’t intend this week to be devoted to Princess Charlotte but that appears to be how it is turning out….I hope you are not bored. As yesterday’s post detailed some of the commemorative items that were produced in their thousands after Princess Charlotte’s premature death in 1817, I thought I might share with you a favourite antique dealer of mine and some of his stock. Martyn Edgell Antiques deals in exactly the type of antiques I love, and has some wonderful examples of early Staffordshire and pearlware pieces. Though he no longer has a shop, you can buy items from him online and he also attends antiques fairs in the UK and in the USA. I have bought a few pieces from him in the past, and thought you might like to know that at present he has two items on sale which relate to the death of Princess Charlotte, and were obviously produced in the grief-stricken days after her death in 1817.
The are pictures painted on glass, both set into original stained pearwood frames. The first is a representation of her funeral procession:
The second shows Prince Leopold, Britannia and the Lion of England grieving at her tomb…
Princess Charlotte is buried in the Royal Vault of St George’s Chapel but the exquisite memorial to her and her child can be seen in the Urswick Chantry in the north-west corner of the Chapel. It was unveiled in 1824. You can see from this old postcard of mine , that it is entirely different:
There are also some ceramics commemorating Princess Charlotte’s mother, Queen Caroline of Brunswick, who died in 1821. They are obviously all based on this print of Queen Caroline, which was produced after her death:
It was even printed on cotton to be used by the amateur seamstress. In this case it was incorporated as a centre piece of a quilt. Go here to see the original.
Here is a commemorative child’s plate, circa 1821, which uses the same image but in reverse:
And here is a similar plate made of Prattware, which attempts to replicate the print, but in an embossed form.
The stock online has many more interesting commemoratives: do go and look, but I warn you , you may be tempted beyond endurance!
7 comments
January 11, 2012 at 5:55 pm
Analisa
I find this fascinating! I really appreciate the research that you put into these posts and really get a history lesson. You know what might sound funny is that every time I see images from those days the facial structures are so different to what we look like today. they had sharper features. Does that make sense. I know a lot English people and none of them look like that! lol
January 11, 2012 at 11:52 pm
jfwakefield
Thanks, Analisa. I suppose the way we English we’re portrayed and resemblance to now depends very much on the skill of the artist involved. These are not high workks of art, and I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder;)
January 12, 2012 at 12:05 am
Rae
I recently saw Princess Charlotte’s memorial – I was at a conference at St George’s House, Windsor, and we were given a tour of the Chapel in the evening. It is certainly a very dramatic piece of masonry!
January 12, 2012 at 11:21 am
jfwakefield
I like it, and it’s history is fascinating, and had many parallels with the search for a suitable memorial for Princess Diana. Most true is it that we are doomed to repeat history , if we learn nothing of it
January 12, 2012 at 2:47 am
Cathy Allen
You are right, of course! I particularly struggled with the temptation to buy the little enamel box… Oh well…
All this information about Princess Charlotte is riveting. I’d never have guessed she was held in such esteem, since I am familiar with the vast disparity in feelings toward her father. And her memorial is so SAD! It seems rather Victorian, and I guess that’s reasonable, having been unveiled in 1824.
Lastly, I’m never bored with ANYTHING you post! I find it all fascinating, so keep it up, please, and thank you!
January 12, 2012 at 11:23 am
jfwakefield
It is quite astounding to think that habits we think are totally modern, commemoratives and commercialism of tragic events, have their roots in history. And very few know of Priness Charlotte and her sad story today….which all goes to show how fickle is fame.
January 14, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Nelson Memorabilia for Sale « Austenonly
[...] Next is another of those glass paintings, similar in style to the ones we saw commemorating the death of Princess Charlotte earlier in the week. [...]