102744 | GREAT BRITAIN. House of Stuart carved bone Plaque.

102744  |  GREAT BRITAIN. House of Stuart carved bone Plaque. Produced mid-late 18th century (87mm x 73mm, 35.49 g).

 

STVART, four draped busts to left and right, all facing inward: James I (IAMES .I.), Oliver Cromwell (OLIV.), William III (W.), and Mary II (M.) facing right, and Charles I (CHA .I.), Charles II (C .II.), James II (I .II.), and Anne (A.) facing left; all in bas-relief, with stippled background // Blank, though numerous grooves from the carving and smoothing. Edge: Somewhat beveled.

 

Essentially as Made. Almond-ivory in color, with great smoothness and intricacy to the portraits.

 

A very interesting and seemingly unique piece on account of its hand-made nature, this bone carving displays the various members of the House of Stuart, along with, rather strangely, Oliver Cromwell, whose interlude with the British Commonwealth saw a brief pause of the monarchy in the mid-17th century. As such, this bears the portraits of the leading figures from the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 to the death of Anne (and the beginning of the House of Hanover) in 1714. Given the use of the "V" for a "U" in STVART, as well as a ligate letter form combining the ME in the name of James I, it would seem that a period of manufacture would lie sometime in the mid-late 18th century.

 

Upload: 1 March 2024.