A Victorian Silver-Gilt, Hardstone and Gem-Set Hand-Seal Dated 1851, Dated 1851

the tapering hardstone body with foliage engraved silver-gilt mounts, the finial cast as a lion rampant holding a shield with an enamelled cypher above the date '1851', the base set with turquoises in the form of fleur-de-lys and with a hardstone matrix cut with the coat-of-arms of Lonsdale within the motto 'Sigillum Gulielmi Lowther', which translates as 'The seal of William Lowther’ 92mm high, Sigillum Gulielmi Lowther', which translates as 'The seal of William Lowther’ Provenance: Bracketts, Tunbridge Wells, 5 December 2002, lot 1279. The Matrix Collection. Literature: D. Morris, Matrix A Collection of British Seals, Romsey, 2012, pp. 140-141, catalogue no. 70. The arms are those of William Lowther (1821–1912), a diplomat and Member of Parliament He was the third son of the Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther, brother of the 3rd Earl of Lonsdale and uncle of the celebrated sportsman, the ‘Yellow Earl’ of Lonsdale. He married Charlotte Alice, daughter of 1st Baron Wensleydale, in 1853, and they had four sons and three daughters. Their house, the red-brick Lowther Lodge in Kensington Gore, was designed by Norman Shaw, and now serves as the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society. Lowther was raised to the rank of an earl’s son by royal warrant in 1872. The seal presumably commemorated Lowther’s 30th birthday in 1851. The arms are those of William Lowther (1821–1912), a diplomat and Member of Parliament He was the third son of the Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther, brother of the 3rd Earl of Lonsdale and uncle of the celebrated sportsman, the ‘Yellow Earl’ of Lonsdale. He married Charlotte Alice, daughter of 1st Baron Wensleydale, in 1853, and they had four sons and three daughters. Their house, the red-brick Lowther Lodge in Kensington Gore, was designed by Norman Shaw, and now serves as the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society. Lowther was raised to the rank of an earl’s son by royal warrant in 1872. The seal presumably commemorated Lowther’s 30th birthday in 1851

Estimate:£700

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