Gifts from Queen Victoria to two of her goddaughters garnered international attention when they went under the hammer on 5th November at Cheffins in Cambridge as part of the Jewellery, Silver and Watches sale.
A locket gifted to the Queen’s goddaughter, Lady Victoria Scott, sold for over six times its pre-sale estimate at £19,000. Estimated at £3,000 - £5,000, the locket was sold to a telephone bidder based in China. It is monogrammed with ‘VR’ on the front and has a personal engraving which reads ‘To Lady Victoria Scott, on her marriage Feb y, 23 1865 from Victoria R.’ This locket was gifted on her marriage to Schomberg Henry Kerr, 9th Marquess of Lothian on 23rd February 1865.
In addition, christening gifts to Lady Victoria Scott’s daughter, Victoria Alexandrina Alberta Kerr (named as such after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and another of Queen Victoria’s goddaughters), sold for £8,000, double their lower estimate of £4,000 to a US-based online bidder. These were in the form of a 19th century pearl and diamond brooch/pendant with its original fitted case with an applied shield engraved ‘To Lady Victoria Alexandrina Alberta Kerr from her Godmother VICTORIA R 11 December 1876.’ This was offered along with a cased portrait miniature of the recipient and accompanying letters from Queen Victoria and the recipient’s mother. Transcripts of the letters are copied below.*
Also available within the same collection was a portrait miniature of Charlotte Thynne, Duchess of Buccleuch, attributed to Dumfries-based artist, Robert Thorburn, which sold for £1,800 over the pre-sale estimate of £600 - £800. Similarly, an amber snuff box, reportedly a gift from Queen Victoria and by direct descent was sold for £3,200.
Steven Collins, Head of Jewellery, Silver and Watches comments: “Any jewellery with royal connections is always an exciting find when it surfaces on the art market and these pieces come with cast-iron provenance from direct descent of the family. The result achieved for the locket gifted to Lady Victoria Scott was over and above expectations, with competitive bidding on multiple phone lines and online from interested parties from across the globe.”