Gold "Stuart crystal" mourning pendant for Prince William, Duke...

Gold "Stuart crystal" mourning pendant for Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (July 24, 1689-July 30, 1700)

England, circa 1700

Of oval form, featuring miniature portrait of Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, with skull at shoulder beneath inscribed date, "30 July 1700," watercolor on paper beneath faceted crystal, loop attachment, seemingly unmarked.

L: 1 3/8 in. (overall)

PROVENANCE:

The Collection of Irvin & Anita Schorsch.
Mrs. Halpin, March 14, 1994. Likely Raizel Halpin (1925-2003), a partner in Ares Antiques, dealers in rare jewelry on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

"So great a loss to me as well as to all of England, that it pierces my heart." King William III writing to the Duke of Marlborough on the untimely death of his nephew, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester.

To ensure its survival and to continue the Protestant succession established by the Revolution of 1688, the House of Stuart needed to produce an heir. Despite her seventeen pregnancies, Princess Anne (later Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland, 1702-1714), wife of Prince George of Denmark (1653-1708), had only one child survive past infancy: Prince William, Duke of Gloucester. William's childhood was plagued with illness, and he died just days after his eleventh birthday on July 30, 1700. Lest the throne be turned back over to a Catholic, Parliament enacted the 1701 Act of Settlement, which ultimately transferred the British throne to Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs subsequent to Anne's death in 1714.