'Curiously Enchased' Goldsmiths & Diplomats in Baroque Europe
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‘Curiously Enchased’ Goldsmiths & Diplomats in Baroque Europe Philippa Glanville FSA. Noted writer and social histororian within the field of the Decorative Arts 29 n 1557 Mary I, Queen of England, instructed Thomas Randolph her Baroque Style in the Age of Magnificence 1620-1800, The Victoria & Albert Mu- ambassador to Ivan the Terrible as to how to present her seum 2009 explored the world of the court.3 gifts; the highlight was a “rich standing cup containing a great Objects of exceptional quality and workmanship which have lost number of pieces of plate artificially wrought…you shall their history may have been devised originally as diplomatic gifts. For Irecommend it for the Rarity of the fashion, assuring him that goldsmiths’ work, the paper trail allows this to be reconstructed, even We do send it him rather for the newness of the devise than if conjecturally. Francis I, for instance, chose exotic Indian goods, no- for the value, it being the first that was made in these parts in tably mother of pearl, which had been imported into Europe through that manner“. Lisbon, by Queen Joanna of Portugal, sister to his second wife Eleanor. The Queen’s instructions sum up the essence of gift-exchange A handsome Goanese mother of pearl casket, embellished in Paris by in early modern statecraft. Emphasized for their novelty and ex- the royal goldsmith Pierre Mangot with silvergilt mounts in 1532, now ceptional workmanship, objects fashioned in gold and silver lay in the Louvre but for many years in English ownership., could well at the heart of these exchanges, since they perfectly com- have been a French royal gift to Anne Boleyn on her honeymoon bined the finest craftsmanship with a recognised visit to France in 1532. When King Henry VIII died in expression of value, as indeed they still do. A 1547, his huge inventory included seven treasured young enameller Fiona Rae, who received caskets of mother of pearl, one of which had the Royal Warrant in 2001, makes silver mounts of precious metal & was comparable boxes with the Prince of Wales’s Feath- in size to this rare survivor.4 ers, which Prince Charles dispenses on Rulers chose gifts carefully. Flattering appropriate occasions. Intended to delight, phrases such as ‘From the Kings own hand ’ to impress and ultimately to persuade, these might be deployed by the agent handing over values are exemplified in Berlin’s famous the gift. Accounts by diplomats make it clear that baroque buffet, to which this essay will return. these presentations were observed, judged and The Berlin buffet embodies some earlier diplo- their effect on relations evaluated. Gifts were matic associations: two Elizabethan bottles with graded, so that a ruler with a son still unmarried chains, made in London in 1579–80 were re- might be sent personal weapons suitable for a boy. cently rediscovered. Imbued with significance be- When the Russian Tsar sent a bundle of costly and yond their actual form, they had travelled to prestigious black sables to James I, King of England in Brandenburg after a failed marriage negotiation with 1617, to cement their trade treaty, he added a gold dagger King James I, almost certainly presented to the returning set with emeralds and rubies for the King’s son, Prince German ambassador. (figure 1).1 Charles, as a symbol of young manly values. In fact this ‘Ritch Presenting beautiful, costly and preferably rare objects has dagger beset with stones’ was Persian, itself a gift from Isfahan to always been central to diplomacy, alongside lavish hospitality. Both the Russian ruler. A jewelled Persian dagger with a known English were public acts, played out before an audience. When monarchs ownership from the 17th century preserved in the Portland Col- conducted diplomacy personally, an exchange of presents lection may well represent that princely gift. But even a fash- helped to cement alliances; prized for their prestige, such ionable and costly choice might actually be inappropriate. In gifts were widely displayed and publicised through the re- the 1650s, when the Emperor ordered a suite of silver fur- ports which diplomats sent home. Many anthropologists niture in Augsburg for the Sultan from D. Schwestermuller, and art historians have written from their contrasting per- he found that it was quite unsuitable to send to Muslim Con- spectives about the theory and practice of gift exchange. His- stantinople, as the tabletop was chased with three naked torians have been slower to recognise how much exceptional women (The Judgement of Paris).5 objects embodied subtle messages, messages which call for curatorial skills When an ambassador took his wife, she played a part in these ceremonial in decoding meanings and context.2 exchanges. Protocol might deny or discourage male visitors to the significant As we know from studies of the French, Danish, Swedish, English and women of the court, but these women could contact, entertain and exchange Russian courts, pres-tigious, hard to come by and luxurious products were gifts with the Queen, the King’s mistress or his mother. These entertainments central to the gift exchange. Recent international exhibitions have explored also involved exchanges of precious metal. In the 1660s gifts to Lady Anne specific themes from Goa to Moscow. Landmarks were the Lisbon exhibition Fanshawe, wife of the English ambassador to Madrid included ‘a very noble in 1996, The Heritage of Rauluchantim, on the impact of Indian goldsmiths on present of India plate’ from the Governor’s wife. In the 1680s when Louis XIV Portuguese diplomatic gifts and in 2002 Gifts to the Tsars 1500-1700, Treasures from the Kremlin, at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In 2000 Treasures of Figure 1. One of a pair of silvergilt bottles, London 1579–80. Stiftung Preußische Catherine the Great opened the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House and Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg/A.Hagemann 30 wanted to make an alliance with the Ottoman Sultan, he sent magnificent official presents to Figure 2. Dagger and scabbard, gold and silvergilt, Constantinople and apparently added set with hessonite garnets and emeralds. a gold mirror enamelled with flowers Traditionally called ‘Henry VIII’s dagger’. Iranian, and set with gems, in recognition of the early 17th century. Portland Collection/D. Adlam particular influence of the Sultana Valide, the Sultan’s mother.6 In April 1687 the Levant Company pre- sented the gold Trumbull Beaker, marked by George Garthorne for 1685 to Katherine, Lady Trumbull, first wife of Sir William Trumbull, as they were taking a ship at Greenwich for Con- stantinople, where he had been appointed Ambassador. Lady Trumbull could consume sherbets and other cool non-alcoholic drinks from her gold beaker with ladies of the Ottoman court in the manner befitting a royal rep- resentative. According to the Levant Company’s minute book, ‘the Lord Amb[assador]s Lady was in expectation of a Present as her Ladyship had under- Cather- stood other Amb[assador]s Ladys had had, it was left to Mr Husband to provide ine of Aragon a piece of gold plate to the value of about £60 to be presented to her Lady[ship] to England a cen- in the Company’s name’.7 tury earlier. Sadly they The memoirs of Lady Anne Fanshawe, widow of Sir Richard Fanshawe, have not survived although Charles II’s ambassador to Lisbon in 1662, and subsequently to Madrid, the senior nobleman, the Consta- record how gold and silver glistened in their official world. Lady Anne appre- ble of Castile, received one of the ciated the lavish furnishings issued from the Stuart Wardrobe: ‘a crimson velvet greatest, or at least oldest, treasures in the cloth of state, fringed and laced with gold, with a chair, a footstool, and cushions, Jewel House, the 14th century Royal Gold Cup, and two other stools of the same, with a Persian carpet to lay under them, and a now in the British Museum.9 suit of fine tapestry hanging for that room’. Their Chapel had two velvet altar- Official gifts could include exceptionally costly regional cloths fringed with gold, and their table and buffet were dressed with eight specialities, such as Tokay from Hungary, Champagne from France, hundred ounces of gilt plate, and four thousand ounces of white plate, all on furs from Russia, hardstones from Saxony, exotic birds from North loan from the Crown. Displayed in a room of state, beneath a cloth and a Africa and even a polar bear, sent from the Tsarina to Dresden. Jerome portrait of the monarch, the sumptuous silver issued to English ambassadors Horsey, an English merchant who travelled to Russia on behalf of the Mus- glistened by candlelight at official receptions and dinners.8 covy Company in 1586 took to Boris Gudonov an eclectic mix of rarities; ‘2 Diplomacy was costly, since the choice of gifts had to be carefully matched lions, dappled bulls, 2 mastiffs, bulldogs (presumably for the sport of bullbaiting), to the recipients. We can see this, indirectly, in 1604. After making the oblig- gilt halberds, pistols, guns, armour, wine, store of drugs of all kinds (spices), organs, atory presentations to the Spanish ambassadors at their peace negotiations, virginals , musicians, scarlets (dyed cloth), pearl chains, plate of curious making … James I had to replenish the English Jewel House. Fifteen thousand ounces ’. In 1663 Charles II’s embassy to Moscow took pigs of Cornish tin, as well of plate, including some early 16th century Spanish buffet plate, had been as examples of London-made fire-arms. The latest technology, notably guns taken from his Great Cupboard of Estate, deliberately selected as fitting for and clocks, became an English speciality.10 the high status Spanish legates.