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Decorative objects

Albert and Victoria commissioned and gifted decorative objects featuring photographs to celebrate special occasions

PRINCE ALBERT, PRINCE CONSORT (1819-61)

Bracelet with a miniature of Victoria, Duchess of Kent (1786-1861)

1861

Watercolour on card over a photograph; pearls and diamonds on the original velvet band | 2.0 cm (Sight diameter) (sight diameter) | RCIN 422250

Velvet bracelet with pearl ouroboros, an ancient symbol of a serpent eating their own tail, surrounding a miniature of Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent. She is shown bust-length against a grey background. Her head is turned half to the left and she wears a dark cloak and a white lace bonnet trimmed with blue ribbons. The work is sensitively coloured to show her brown eyes and brown hair.

This bracelet, set with a circular miniature of Queen Victoria's mother, Victoria, Duchess of Kent, was designed by Prince Albert following the death of the Duchess of Kent in March 1861. The miniature is set within a pearl ouroboros, symbolising eternal love and mourning. It was completed after Prince Albert's own death in December 1861. The portrait of the Duchess is a hand-coloured photograph of around 1859 selected by Prince Albert.

Engraved: Last gift / from my / beloved & adored Albert / ordered by him / for Xmas 1861 / Given me by Alice / Jan. 1st. 1862

  • Creator(s)

    Prince Albert, Prince Consort (1819-61) (designer)

    After British School, 19th century (photographer)

    British School, 19th century (artist)

    Subject(s)

    Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent (1786-1861)

  • 2.0 cm (Sight diameter) (sight diameter)

    21.6 x 2.5 x 1.0 cm (whole object)

    3.3 x 2.8 cm (frame, external)

  • Victoria, Duchess of Kent (1786-1861)

  • Ordered by Prince Albert as a Christmas gift for Queen Victoria in 1861 but presented to her by Princess Alice on 1st January 1862.
    This was one of a group of jewels placed in the ‘Albert Room’ at Windsor Castle after the Queen's death in 1901. This was the room in which Prince Albert had died in 1861 and the Queen left instructions for a specific list of personal jewellery to be placed there and not passed on in the family.

  • Subject(s)
    • Science, Medicine and Technology
      • Industries, Crafts and Trades
        • Clothing
          • Headgear
            • Hats
              • Bonnets
    • Natural Sciences & Mathematics
      • Biological sciences
        • Zoology
          • Animals
            • Reptiles
              • Snakes
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • miniatures (paintings)
      • costume
        • costume accessories
          • jewellery
            • bracelets
            • commemorative jewellery
              • mourning jewellery
Policy links
Royal Collection TrustIn Partnership with

The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.