Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-13
The Historical Art Treasures of
Windsor Castle.
some PRIZES OF Rare VALUE
Priceless Gems From All Parts of
the World.
SOLID SILVER TABLE

valued at one and a half millions ster-
ling" seems at first glance round the
! TWO small rooms in question an almost in
! credible assertion. But when one is fur
| Their told that between four and five tons
OF plate are frequently sent TO London
| Tor ordinary use at an entertainment at
| buckingham palace the statement at once
! appears to come within the bounds OF rea-
son. And after a sIIter-eilt dish weighing
possibly twenty-eight pounds is taken from
a pile containing some dozens and put in
the listeners hands; so that he may feel
| its weight. 1t is impossible to remain any
| longer a skeptic.
The two pantries are 80 by 10 feet and
is feet square, respectively, They are fit
| ted with numerous electric lights In deem
| recesses in the massive stone walls fit air.
tght plate glass cases, with a light rnahor-
any framework. These cases extend Ia q
aeIsht OF about nine or ten feet from the
| moor In front of them stand plate glass
counter cases, as in a jewelers. shop and
me space under these is fitted with glass
lAciOseu cupboards The center OF each room
Is occupied by a great glass and mahogany
case. thus leaving merely pathway OF
space.
| In the midst of such an eraharras do
rlcnesse as the plate pantries contain il is
Wen 10 first note some of the more his
oorlcal treasures which are to be seen on
| a
eating from the spacious times of good
queen Bess. 1t Is magnificent silyer-eIlr
nagon, some three feet in height. az The
shape of the pilgrims bottle and Uyas
taken, as is set down in the castle recor,is
from the ship of the admiral of the Spanish
armada IL 1858.
A Worid-Famed Gun
Next we come to. SO far as design is con-
cerned, TIE gem OF the collection. This is
the world-famed Nautilus Gun. Its manu-
facture is ascribed on its present label Ia
Nicholas Schmidt of Nuremburg. but II
the style counts for anything II NAV well
DC the work of the great Benvenuto CelliDt
himseif, so closely GOES it resemble existing
ty. III
Cellini certainly made during his long
working NE many fine pieces in gold and
silver; nut unfortunately, with the excep-
uCn OF a gold salt cellar at Vienna ana two
cups Ia the gallery at Florence not any
can be absolutely authenticated as MS
work. All his other goldsmith's work cam
not nave perished and therefore, when we
see specimen so closely APPROACHING in
style TO his as the Nautilus Gun IL is Ger
talnly not unreasonable to attribute IL 10
the master hand. The shell OF the cup is
oI pearl ana the mountings OF silver richly
embellished with gliding.
Queen Mary possessed great Quantities of
gold ana silver work; and in the pantry
one finds relic of The highest interest.
inns u AIlt Rpllel service. mirror. etc. "A
present IN use by our gracious queen. The
various articles are small i'm size and MAIN
ly OF silver gilt heavily embossed in re-
pousse work. The mirror is some ISxl2
Inches in size, with a semi-circuiar ton and
frame about enc inch wide of embossed
silver gilt. 1t is very similar in appearance
to the mirror used by Queen Anne. which
lies In neighhoring case. The privy purse
expenses of Queen Mary give us a detailed
list of the goidsmiths work in her posses
sion. On the occasion OF her wedding she
had a sideboard of nine stages of gold Guns
and silver dishes
Her successor, Queen Elizabeth, was al
so a great patron OF the silver smiths art.
Her courticrs were continually making her
presents, and to her reign may be ascrfbed
most Of the many beautiful examples OF
sugar castors which adorn the royal coll
lection at Windsor.
Not Real Gold Service.
And now, perhaps. it is as well to destroy
long-cherished Illusion. One is constantly
hearing of the great gold service at Wind
sor. There are no such things. The So
called gold plate is mainly silver gilt. There
are, of course, here and there few vases,
dishes, etc, in pure gold, but they are com
Paratiyely few in number. The reason is
not far to seek. Independently of its enor-
nous cost the weight of real gold plate
would be so great as to render II practically
useless. Take. for instance, the famous en-
perors service, which is used only for
joculariy said that it cannot be burgled, as
1t would require a special train for its re-
moval. Some of It's epergnes weigh, as IL
Is, several hundredweight. Consider their
weight in gold Even OF the ordinary fiat
dishes, of which there are dozens, two or
three are quite as many one ordinary
man can carry, without considering the
weight OF the viands they are meant to
contain. Seven or eight of the plates with
their thick gadrcon edges, again make one
man 5 load, while the great candelabra, IL
made in gold, would be practically immov-
able. AS an example OF the weight of gold
plate, one has but to lift one of a pair OF
flower baskets presented to her majesty on
the occasion of her jubilee. Here we find
an ornament not more than twelve inches
by eight, with plain twisted handle to i'm
ftate basket work, which must weigh at
least nine to ten pounds. A dinner plate of
standard gold would weigh more than one
ana hair times as 4puch as silver one of
the same size, and be worth for metal alone
about El20 ..--
Now we pass to the middle of the G eorgian
period. which is well represented at Windsor
notably By some fine pot-pourri vases, dat
ed 1879, embossed and chased with flowers
masks and Cupiis. Their height is about
twenty inches and width thirteen riches
a salNer with a center group of Venus ris-
ing from the sea and an appropriate border
is dated, 11S2. and a curious Gun of IVORY
with silver gilt mounting and gol5 cover
is dated IeS5 The ivory carving which
represents the birth of Venus is presuma-
bly, seventeenth century Flemish.
George ~ made some notable efforts to
maintain the standard of design in plate.
and employed Faxman. Stodhard and 9TH
ers to design. and Rundell and Bridge 10
manufacture shields, vases and other
pieces, but without much success Their
productions are, as a rule, heavy and awk-
ward looking. The great punch bowl or
wine cooler, designed by Faxman. is a
stupendous example of what to avoid in
plate, and certainly its ivory handled ladle
of modern manufacture Is far more
graceful production. This bowl by the
way, has been given the credit of being the
fLnt in which II. r. H the Prince of
Wales was christened. - Such is not the
case; 1t was merely filled with mulled
claret to be drunk at the christening. Some
other Georgian errors in design are huge
yenison dishes, which each require two
men to carry them, and which are warmed
from beneath by curious little lamps filed
with burning wax. Near by these one may
notice most interesting little relic II Is
a small silver gilt porridge pot formerly
the property of Napoleon l. and was taken
from the. travelling carriage which he had
deserted after the battle of Waterloo
In modern silver Windsor has some very
good specimens, IL not in design certainly
in workmanship. A splendid piece is the
fountain designed by II. r. II.
the late prince consert.
Another piece of great interest is the sill
yer font which was used for the chrfsten-