Mary Regina

A Stuart crystal slide celebrating the life of Queen Mary II, who reigned from 1689 to 1694. Following Britain’s bloodless Glorious Revolution, Mary, the daughter of the deposed king, and her first cousin William of Orange, were proclaimed joint sovereigns of Great Britain under Britain’s new Bill of Rights. Although King Charles II was keen on the marriage, Mary was not. Her sister Anne called William ‘Caliban’ as his physical appearance (blackened teeth and a hooked nose) resembled the monster in The Tempest. It didn’t help that, at 5 feet 11 inches Mary towered over him by 5 inches and she wept when the betrothal was announced. Nevertheless, William and Mary were wed on 4th November 1677 when she was 15 years old. The marriage was ultimately a happy one, though childless, and when Mary died of smallpox in 1694 William was heartbroken. The slide is high carat gold and has a compartment set with a weave of hair and gold wire initials MR surmounted by hovering enamel cherubs holding an enamel crown aloft. The compartment is covered by a faceted natural rock crystal and within a surround of Scottish river pearls, set silver. To reverse there is elaborate floral engraving. The slide measures 1 and 1/8 inches by one inch and has its original slide fittings. A fine quality and increasingly rare Royalist slide.

£3700