Mirror of Great Britain

James I and VI, 1604 portrait by John de Critz the Elder, wearing the "Mirror of Great Britain" jewel in his hat.

The Mirror of Great Britain was a part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom during the reign of James I of England and VI of Scotland.

The jewel was created around 1604, to mark James' Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland. It was created in gold, with five main stones set into it: four diamonds and a ruby. The ruby and one of the diamonds were table-cut, while two further diamonds were lozenges. One of these two was known as the "Stone of the letter H of Scotland" or the "Great Harry" and had belonged to James' mother, Mary, Queen of Scots. The final diamond was the Sancy Diamond, which is believed to have previously belonged to the Burgundian crown. The jewel was further decorated with two pearls and numerous smaller diamonds.[1]

In 1625, James pawned the jewel, and it was split up.[1] The pearls remained in royal possession a further year, but were then also pawned.[2] The Sancy Diamond was reclaimed but again pawned in 1654, and subsequently became part of the French Crown Jewels.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Roy Strong, "Three Royal Jewels", in The Tudor and Stuart Monarchy, pp.69-75
  2. ↑ Calendar of State Papers: Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles I, p.216
  3. ↑ Edward Twining, A history of the crown jewels of Europe, p.245
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