Kate Flitcroft
Co-Head of Department UK
Lot 15
CARNELIAN SEAL FOB AND KEY CHAIN, CIRCA 1830
26 April 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £3,570 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Jewellery specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Jennifer Tonkin
Co-Head of Department UK
Charlotte Glyde
Specialist Consultant
CARNELIAN SEAL FOB AND KEY CHAIN, CIRCA 1830
The carnelian seals engraved with the Masonic square and compass and the initials and crest of William Howley (1766-1848), Archbishop of Canterbury (1828-1848), the surrounding fob and double-sided key both chased with floral and foliate detail, connected via four strands of curb-linking, set with a slider engraved with a hare on one side and a hound on the other, mounted in gold, length 33.7cm
Footnotes
Provenance:
D. S. Lavender (Antiques) Ltd, 139A New Bond Street, London
A Private Collection of Jewels and Portrait Miniatures of Bourbon Interest
Lots 1 - 16 form part of a private collection of jewels, portrait miniatures and objects de vertu, predominantly relating to the Bourbon dynasty and dating from the 17th century onwards. Bourbon monarchs united France and part of the kingdom of Navarre in 1589, ruling both until the French Revolution of 1792. Restored briefly in 1814 and finally in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, the senior line of the Bourbons was overthrown again in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years (1830–1848), until it too was deposed.
William Howley was born in Ropley, Hampshire, where his father was a vicar. He was educated at Winchester College and later New College at Oxford. He was an active English Freemason, having joined Bristol's 'Royal York Lodge' in 1791. He became Chaplain to the Marquess of Abercorn in 1792, whose influence was critical in advancing his early career. William Howley married Mary Frances Belli in 1805 and the couple had two sons (neither reached adulthood) and three daughters. In 1809 he was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University. In October 1813, at Lambeth Palace, he was consecrated Bishop of London and became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1828.
Howley was Archbishop of Canterbury during the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts (1828), the Emancipation of the Catholics (1829) and the passing of the Great Reform Act (1832). He presided over the coronation of William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1831 and together with the Lord Chamberlain, he informed Princess Victoria of her accession to the throne in 1837.
