Here's an interesting article from London Telegraph for November 10, 1997. I want the ring!!!Byron mementoes!
Posted by Linda P. on November 11, 1997 at 17:25:40:
Here's an interesting article from London Telegraph for November 10, 1997. I want the ring!!!
Byron's treasures up for auction
By John Vincent
TWO mementoes of Lord Byron - bought by the poet at the
same London jewellers in the same year but with very different histories - have surfaced independently after nearly two centuries.
The items, his treasured musical snuff box and a
delicate gold and turquoise ring, will be seen publicly for the first time since 1813 when they are offered at separate Christie's sales this month.
Byron bought the Swiss gold enamelled music box from the
Old Bond Street jeweller Love & Kelty for £105 on July 12, 1813. It is decorated with pearls and an enamel plaque painted with musicians.
An inscription reads: "This musical box was left in the
charge of the British Consul at Genoa in 1822 by Lord Byron on his departure for Greece and was transmitted on his death in 1824 to Mr Hobhouse (afterwards Lord Broughton) his Executor . . . It was inherited in 1869 by Lady Dorchester from her father, Lord Broughton."
The inscription bears testimony to the most enduring
friendship of Byron's life. He met John Hobhouse at Trinity College,Cambridge, and the pair became regular travel companions. The box is expected to fetch up to £100,000 at Christie's in Geneva on Nov 19.
A month after buying the box, Byron returned to Love &
Kelty to buy a gold ring set with turquoise for 12 guineas, for use as a gift during his travels in the Levant. The voyage was cancelled due to plague and the "gee-gaw" was later given to his friend Lady Charlotte Campbell, lady-in-waiting to Caroline, Princess of Wales.
In 1869, it was given to Emily, the fiancé of the future
26th Earl of Crawford and Belearry. In 1912, she gave the ring to the painter Aubrey Waterfield's wife, Lina, who was related to Byron's mother.
It is expected to realise up to £5,000 in London on Nov 27. Anthony Phillips, of Christie's, said yesterday: "It is an extraordinary coincidence that these two items, with such different histories, have surfaced at the same time. Both pieces provide a touching insight into the
close friendships of the poet."
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