Tobacco box, gold with cameo of Charles I, London, 1670-1685
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1670-1685
This tobacco box is set with a cameo of Charles I. Charles I's reign (1625-49) was characterised by the struggles between court and parliament which culminated in the English Civil War (1642-51) and the execution of the king in 1649. The Restoration commenced in 1660 with the institution of his son, Charles II, as monarch.
This box bears a Latin inscription translating as 'Long live the King, may the law run its course, may the flock flourish', a motto in keeping with some Restoration attitudes towards kingship. Oval, gold tobacco box with plain base and walls, the cover set with a bust in cameo of Charles I of England facing left and bordered by a motto within an applied pierced and engraved border. The border has three oval reserves, one with a crowned fleur-de-lis, one with a crowned harp, and one with a rose dimidiated by a thistle, crowned and supported by a lion and a unicorn, each reserve within scrolling flowers and foliage. The border is surmounted by two putti supporting an imperial crown beneath a sunburst engraved Video .
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 4
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
Horatio, P.M. Berney Ficklin, Tasburgh Hall, Norwich. Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1983. It has been established by Schroder and Truman that the box can be dated to about 1670-85 by comparison with other tobacco boxes which are marked.
The engraving on the cover can be seen in the same light as the rings and other objects which commemorate Charles I. The winged putti are, it is reasonable to suggest, acting as angels holding the crown about Charles' head.
The crown is not a martyr's crown, but the image of the king with the crown supported by the putti, with the symbols of the nations, and the Latin insription connecting the king, laws, and the prosperity of the people, is that of the martyred king who died for his country and its laws. At his trial Charles in 1649 told his accusers that he was the champion of the people of England:
'do you pretend what you will, I stand more for their liberties. For if power without law may make laws, may alter the fundamental laws of the kingdom, I do not know what subject he is in England, that can be sure of his life, or anything he calls his own'. 'For the charge, I value it not a rush; it is the liberty of the people of England that I stand for'.
The case advanced in Eikon Basilike: The Portrait of of His Sacred Majesty in his Solitudes and Sufferings by Charles (with the assistance of John Gauden, Bishop of Exeter), of which advanced copies were available on the day of execution, is that 'civil justice' depended on a relationship between the royal prerogative and the people's 'liberties, which consists in the enjoyment of the fruits of their industry and the benefit of those laws to which they themselves have consented' (all these quotations from Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815 , London: Penguin Books, 2008, pp. 197-9).
According to Blanning, Eikon Basilike had appeared in 35 English editions by the end of 1649, and eight on the Continent. After the Restoration, the Convocation of Canterbury and York canonised Charles in 1660 and added his name as King and Martyr to the Kalendar of Saints at the revision of the Prayer Book in 1662.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Raised, engraved, pierced, applied gold
- Dimensions
- Depth: 2.1 cm; Width: 6.8 cm; Height: 8.5 cm (Measured 29/01/24 IW)
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- London
Design
- Marks and inscriptions
- Inscribed 'VIVAT REX, CURRAT LEX FLORET GREX'; Video
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O158174
- Museum object name
- Tobacco box
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- LOAN:GILBERT.545:1,2-2008
- Museum system number
- O158174
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.