This Gold, Diamond, Seed Pearl and Enamel bracelet presented by Queen Victoria to her daughter Princess Alice.
The fine quality gold bracelet with applied Gothic style strapwork and foliate engraved decoration within dark blue enamelled borders, set with two dark blue enamel and gold ovals inclined towards each other, one depicting a ship in full sail within a border of twenty-six seed pearls, the other a bust portrait of Princess Alice within a border of twenty-six old cut diamonds, the two ovals surmounted by a diamond set red enamel crown and with the diamond set letters 'V' and 'A' intertwined beneath, the inside face of the bracelet engraved in script with the inscription, "To dear Alice from her loving parents Albert and Victoria R who though visibly parted are ever united, April 25 1862".
* Queen Victoria was renowned for her fondness for commemorating important events during her reign with presentation jewels. This bracelet was presented to Princess Alice to mark the occasion of her departure to commence a new life in Darmstadt in Hesse, prior to her marriage to Prince Louis of Hesse on 1st July 1862. It is one of the most important examples of Victoria's presentation jewels to have been offered on the open market for many years, commemorating an event of great personal significance to her second eldest daughter, who had become her closest companion and effective head of the Royal household at a time of huge grief and turmoil within the family so shortly after the death of Prince Albert. It is probable that the jewel was commissioned prior to Albert's death in December 1861, the inscription's reference to 'visibly parted' originally intended as a reference to Alice's departure overseas, but gaining additional poignancy due her father's passing.
The gold, diamond, pearl and enamel band was bought by Victoria and Prince Albert for a wedding present to Princess Alice.
Albert tragically died six months before the big day which went ahead, although Alice was instructed to wear black mourning dress immediately before and after her marriage to Prince Louis of Hesse.
Victoria inscribed the bracelet with with a message from both of them.
The message reads: ‘To dear Alice from her loving parents Albert and Victoria R who though visibly parted are ever united, April 25 1862.’
Victoria presented the memento to the princess three months before the ceremony and four months after Albert’s untimely death.
The bracelet features a portrait of the princess on the front next to a picture of a ship to signify her leaving the family home and moving to Germany with her new husband.
Princess Alice died in 1878 and the bracelet is thought to have been passed on to her second eldest daughter, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
It is thought the band left the family after the empress was executed with her husband Tsar Nicholas II during the Russian Revolution in 1918.
It was acquired by Professor Leonard Shaw, a millionaire engineer and antiques collector, who kept it at his home on Guernsey.
An auctioneer visited the property after he died aged 98 in November 2010 and discovered the rare piece of royal memorabilia amongst the vast collection.
The item is to be sold with a pre-sale estimate of £10,000. James Bridges, director at Martel Maides Auctions in Guernsey, said: ‘The bracelet was found as part of Professor Shaw’s collection after he passed away.
‘He had a huge collection of jewellery and pocket watches, he was a real philanthropist, but we don’t know how he came to acquire the bracelet.
‘He bought a lot at auction in the 1960s through to the 1980s but it could have been from a private seller. I would be surprised if it was ever on the market before now.
‘Princess Alice was engaged in 1861 and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert commissioned the bracelet to be made before she moved to Germany with her husband.
‘The message on the back can be read in two ways; to signify her leaving the family behind or because Prince Albert was apart from his wife and daughter after his death.
‘Princess Alice died when she was 35 and had seven children but two of them were murdered in Russia. It could have been here that the bracelet left the family.
‘Queen Victoria liked giving jewellery as gifts to people such as nannies and godparents, but it is unusual to have something she gave one of her children for sale. It is incredibly rare.’
Princess Alice’s wedding at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight was described as ‘most sombre of Royal weddings’ following her father’s death.
Sources:The TIMES;Liverpool Mercury; „In der neuen Heimat“;Alice Großherzogin von Hessen und bei Rhein(Briefe an ihre Mutter Königin Victoria)Verlag Arnold Bergsträsser, Darmstadt, 1884; Hessian Tapestry;
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