Jewellery, Watches, Silver and Objects of Vertu

Two framed watercolour and pencil studies for the Prince of Wales Investiture Coronet by Louis Osman, circa 1969, the two sketches of the orb and arch details, gilt heightened and annotated, both initialled ‘LO’ to the bottom right corner, within a maroon card mount and gilt frame, with hand written provenance details verso, frame dimensions 52 x 30cm. £1,500-£2,000



Please note ARR will apply to this lot (Artist’s Resale Rights).

These sketches were given to Peggy Kitson by Louis Osman in the 1980s. In 1940 Louis had married Dilys Roberts, a cousin of Peggy’s. The sketches passed to Peggy’s son Peter after her death in 2004.

H.R.H. Prince Charles (now King Charles III) was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle on 1 July 1969. When preparations for the ceremony began, the Royal regalia was inspected and it was decided that a new crown would be appropriate. The Goldsmiths’ Company offered to present H.M. Queen Elizabeth II with the gift of a new crown and Louis Osman was privileged to be commissioned to design and make it.

Before deciding on the design, Louis extensively studied the subject of crowns, coronets and past investitures, taking advice from Sir Anthony Wagner, the Garter King of Arms. He needed to balance the various instructions, including the warrant of King Charles II which states that “the Coronet of the Prince of Wales should be composed of Crosses and Flower de Lizes with one arch and in the midst a Ball and Cross”, while Prince Charles himself requested “a crown of our time”. It was agreed there should be four crosses pattées symbolising protection and four fleur-de-lys for purity around the circlet; a Prince’s crown has one arch and Louis felt it important to form the the circlet and arch as one piece. 

The Times in July 1969 recorded:
“.the crown represented the Prince and Prince Paramount in the Principality of Wales. The orb and cross surmounting the single arch show the Prince and the whole world as subject to the domination of the Cross. However the Medieval world has expanded, within an expanding universe, so the meridian and horizon bands that previously hugged the orb (or monde or pomum) are carried free. Delicately enamelled in sky-blue, the bands are almost invisible; however they carry vertically thirteen diamonds set to the pattern of the constellation of Scorpio (Prince Charles was born in November) and horizontally, on each side of the centre seven more - the seven deadly sins and the seven gifts of God under the dominion of the finial cross. The earliest form of orb was known as a pomum, and it is a nice thought that the cross above might be dominating original sin. Later the terrestrial monde became the acceptable derivation, and the green of the apple became the green of the earth. The monde is made in one piece and carries in the most delicate engraving by Malcolm Appleby, the special attributes of the Prince of Wales. There are the dragons, the Lion of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd and of the royal supporter and its unicorn counterpart - the latter is also an allusion to the Goldsmiths’ Company - and this triple bestiary is echoed by the three corn stooks of the Earldom of Chester; the Prince of Wales and the Black Prince’s feathers are entwined with the fifteen bezants of the Dukedom of Cornwall, and from the mouths of the beasts issue the mottos: ‘Y ddraig goch ddry cychwyn (the red dragon give impetus’, ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’ and ‘Ich dien’.”

Louis decided the best way to form a Corona aurea integra or ‘crown of pure gold’, was using the unusual method of electro-forming, rather than the traditional methods of hammering or casting elements and then jointing. A piece of electro-formed goldwork of this size and scale had never been attempted before, but with the help of metallurgist Peter Gainsbury, of BJS Electroplating Company and Engelhard Industries, and after a few false starts, they succeeded. The result is, in the words of Graham Hughes, Art Director of Goldsmiths’ Company, “deservedly the best known piece of new British gold of this century”.

Literature: 
Moore, J: Louis Osman (1914 - 1996) The life and work of an architect and goldsmith, pub. Halsgrove 2006.