A FINE EARLY 19TH CENTURY SILVER GILT DESK SEAL
ENGLISH CIRCA 1820, UNMARKED
Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500
Auction: Silver & Objets de Vertu | Wednesday 4th March at 10am
Description
The handle formed as a cast half length figure of King George IV in full military uniform and medals, raised on a an architectural hexagonal stepped stem and hexagonal white chalcedony matrix set within, in a alter fitted leather case, circa 1845, with tooled detail and fitted lining, inscribed to interior ‘Noah Groves Goldsmith Bradford’
Dimensions
6.4cm high, matrix 19mm wide
Provenance
By family tradition presented to Sir Jonathan Wathen Waller on the death of King Geoge IV
By descent
Matrix a Collection of British Seals, David Morris, seal 14, pages 46 – 47
Footnote
Heraldry
The later engraved armorial, crest and motto HIC FRUCTUS VIRTUTIS for Waller Baronetcy of Braywick Lodge, Berkshire. The arms appear to be for one of Sir Jonathan Wathen Waller’s two sons, most likely his eldest Thomas, used prior to 1853 when they would have inherited the Baronetcy and the arms would have been upgraded.
Notes:
While no direct provenance that this seal was gifted directly by the Royal family to Sir Jonathan Wathen Waller his well recorded close relationship not only with George IV but the wider family does give an insight that this could be the case.
Waller had been ophthalmic surgeon to George III and treated various other members of the royal family through his career. Including the future king George IV Princesses Sophia and Mary and their brother the Dukes of Cumberland and Cambridge. The Dukes even acting as sponsor at the christening of Waller younger son Ernest Adolphus in 1808.
Sir Jonathan would also be made the Groom of the Bedchamber to William IV having been invested by George IV as a Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order (KH) in 1824, raised to KCH in 1827 and GCH in 1830; personally bestowed by the King.
If the close ties are illustrated in a most poignant manner when in June 1830 Sir Jonathan was present with the King at his death bed. Sir Jonathan writes of this stating ‘My beloved friends & Monarch expired in my arms at ¼ past 3 o clock on the morning yesterday… he has usual took my hand in his & I felt him instantly press it harder than usual& he looked at me with an eager eye & exclaimed, “my dear boy this is Death”, these were the last words he uttered’.
Although family tradition held this was given to Sir Jonathan on George IV’s death it could also have been gifted at the time of the coronation in 1820. Other seals of similar form, if not identical, are recorded being made for the Royal family and their entourage. Examples from the collections of the Duke of Sussex and Duke of Cambridge are recorded being sold by Christies in 1843 and 1904 respectively.
Sir Jonathan’s royal relics, including a jewelled gold and tortoiseshell snuff box were sold by his descendant Sir Wathen Arthur Waller by Christies in 1947.