Arthur Tyrwhitt Drake’s Fob Seal

Arthur Tyrwhitt Drake’s Fob Seal
  1. A gold ring with an ornate, square-faced black gemstone featuring an engraved design, displayed against a plain dark background.
  2. A gold ring with an ornate, square-faced black gemstone featuring an engraved design, displayed against a plain dark background.
  3. A gold locket with ornate detailing, shown open to reveal an empty compartment and an inscribed message along the inner rim. The locket is displayed against a plain dark background.
  4. A rectangular, dark stone with white streaks, set in a simple gold bezel, displayed against a solid dark background.
  5. A gold fob seal with an ornate, curved handle and a ridged, cushion-shaped base, set against a plain dark background.
Collection:

Number AMHAM: OBJECT.2110
Date c.1831
About this object Arthur Tyrwhitt Drake (1800 – 1831) died suddenly on his wedding day on 15 September 1831, aged just 31.  His loved ones commissioned this piece of gold jewellery to remember him and celebrate his life. A fob seal is a small ornament or charm traditionally attached to a pocket watch chain or keyring. The seal was used to create impressions in wax, typically to seal documents or letters. Arthur Tyrwhitt Drake was one of 14 children. His parents, Thomas Drake Tyrwhitt Drake and his wife Anne were influential landowners and political representatives of Amersham. Arthur followed many other sons of landowners into the church, a respected and comparatively powerful profession in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Physical Description This is a late Georgian, William IV 15ct fob seal, made of gold. It is hinged and the small, glazed compartment at the base is likely to have contained a lock of Arthur’s hair as a keepsake. The base has banded agate intaglio (engraving) depicting a dog resting at the foot of a sundial. It is depressed below the surface of the banded agate of the fob so that an impression from the design yields this image in relief. There is an inscription around edge of the intaglio. It is a closed loop at the top with an ornate central portion.
Inscription De tems passe d’amitie reste. 'Arthur Tyrwhitt Drake, Ob't 15 Sept'r 1831, At 31'.  (Inner compartment)
Transcription Time passes, friendship endures

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