A coronation auction conjures up an overabundance of royal memorabilia, stuffed to the brim with pairs of Queen Victoria’s boxer shorts and commemorative mugs.
But Sotheby’s The Coronation Sale, a cross-category online auction (until May 4) marking the build-up to the coronation of King Charles III, is a more intellectual affair centered on manuscripts with links to the British royal family. .
It is one of the few transformational royal documents that forever changed royal power, and as such is the largest of its kind ever offered for public sale.
Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s
Its starting point and centerpiece are The Breda Declaration, the document that marks the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, in which King Charles II (then exiled to Breda in the Netherlands) sets out his vision of his future royalty and the conditions for his return to the country. Five copies were made – for the Navy, House of Commons, City of London, Army and House of Lords. This one, made for the Navy, is one of only two surviving copies signed by King Charles II (the other is in the Parliamentary Archives) and was last sold by Sotheby’s in 1985, by descendants of Edward Montagu, the man who brought Charles back to England. Adding to its appeal, this copy also physically passed through the hands of chronicler Samuel Pepys, then Montagu’s secretary, who served as general at sea.
“Alongside the Magna Carta, The Bill of Rights and The Act of Settlement, it is one of the few transformational royal documents that changed royal power forever, and as such it is the most important of its kind to have ever been put up for public sale,” says Gabriel Heaton, manuscript specialist at Sotheby’s. The document is estimated between £400,000 and £600,000, and Heaton describes it as “a unique opportunity to own a document which marks such an important and dramatic moment of change and hope in British history…the message is all about reconciliation, overcoming the divisions and turmoil of the previous decade.The language is truly beautiful – Charles II knows how to play his cards well and within weeks he is back in London for his 30th birthday.
Letter from Katherine Parr announcing her marriage to Henry VIII (est. £15,000-£20,000) Courtesy of Sotheby’s
When Sotheby’s was approached by the owners of THE Declaration of Breda about selling it, Heaton and his colleagues came up with the idea of having a coronation sale. “The sale allowed us to trace the history of the British monarchy, mainly through the historical documents which form the backbone of the sale, but also through the other objects,” said Heaton, referring to the peppering of the jewelry, watches, wine and art alongside manuscripts and letters.
The documents included “have significant royal content,” not just signatures, Heaton says. And so next to Declaration of Breda is a letter signed by Katherine Parr announcing her marriage to Henry VIII (£15,000-£20,000); a letter from Charles I on the brink of defeat in the Civil War (£7,000-£9,000); a manuscript recording claims of hereditary rights to offices and functions at the coronation of Queen Mary I, many of which are still active today (£3,000-£5,000) and a series of letters from a young King Edward VIII.
A set of heraldic manuscripts bound in red velvet, presented as New Year’s gifts to Elizabeth I between 1569 and 1580 (est. £100,000-£200,000) Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Demand for royal manuscripts, says Heaton, leans towards the Tudors, which is reflected in the estimates, and one of the most impressive documents is a group of nine illustrated heraldic manuscripts bound in red velvet which were presented as gifts from the New Year to Elizabeth I between 1569 and 1580 (estimated £100,000-£200,000). “The New Year was a lavish gift giving occasion to the Elizabethan court, and each year the Chief Herald presented a velvet covered coat of arms book, bound in red velvet which was Queen Elizabeth’s favorite binding – almost none survive in their original binding because it’s a relatively fragile binding,” says Heaton, adding, “Barely [any] the original objects from the Elizabethan court survive”. The manuscripts were last sold by Sotheby’s in the early 1980s to the current owners.
A set of replica Crown Jewels, 1953 (estimated £10,000-15,000) Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Historical manuscripts, says Heaton, “are a very venerable area of collecting and there are many established collectors, and we’ve certainly had a very good response from those collectors. But it’s clear that cross-category selling is also an opportunity to reach more broadly [via the royal connection] and attract new collectors.
Perhaps the most archetypal of the royal memorabilia on offer in the 36-lot sale includes a set of replica Crown Jewels made for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 (estimated at £10,000-15,000), or one of six Garrard & Co diamond brooches given by Elizabeth II to her six bridesmaids for their service at the event (estimated at £30,000-50,000).
Bryan Organ, Study for the Prince of Wales1980 (est. £3,000-£5,000) Courtesy of Sotheby’s
And to bring it up to date there is a pencil study of King Charles III by Bryan Organ, made in 1980 as a preparatory sketch for the portrait which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London (est. £3,000-£5,000 ), alongside a 2004 Mouton Rothschild case with a label based on a watercolor of King Charles (est. £3,800-£5,000).
THE The auction is underway in the auction room of Sotheby’s New Bond Street in London until May 4.
