| Description |
STUART. Charles I. 1625-1649. Gold Medal (60mm, 79.05 g, 12h). Dominion of the Seas. Original; cast and chased by Nicolas Briot in London. 1639. CAROLVS · I · D : G · MAG · BRITANN · FRAN · ET · HIB · REX · (lozenge and double lozenge stops), Bare-headed bust of Charles I to right, his hair long and with ‘lovelock’ on his left shoulder, wearing a decorated cuirass with the plain collar of his shirt falling over it, and the St. George of the Order of the Garter suspended on a ribbon from his neck; on shoulder truncation, 1639 (barely visible); behind near the edge, BRIOT / NEC · META · MIHI · QVÆ · TERMINVS · ORBI · (Nor is a limit to me that which is a boundary to the world), War ship sailing to right, under full sail and with sailors on deck and in the rigging; on the left, seashore with fortress. Cf. MI 285/97 (unlisted in gold and with date on truncation of shoulder); Eimer 136a corr. (no date on truncation of shoulder in gold); P. C. Godman, Itchingfield, Sussex Archaeological Collections Relating to the History and Antiquities of the County 41 (1898), pp. 95-158, and especially pp. 118 ff. and pl. 7 (facing p. 118, this medal); Jones 174 (in silver). Unique and of the greatest historical importance. This medal was the personal property of King Charles I and was given, as a keepsake, to Bishop William Juxon during the last few weeks of the King’s life. It has passed by bequest and descent until 2010. Provenance: Made for Charles I by N. Briot in 1639 and kept by the King until he gave it to Bishop Juxon in 1649; from Juxon as a gift to his niece Elizabeth Merlott c. 1649, by descent in the Merlott family to Charles Merlott Chitty in 1815, then by descent from him to William Ffarington Chitty in 1867, who, in turn, left it to Percy Sanden Godman in 1878, by descent within the Godman family until 2010, from whom it was loaned for display in the Pepys Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge (1986-2009). |
