{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O78473"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78473/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN8104/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN8104/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PN8104","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NY4238","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AP1405","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV3720","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV3811","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O78473/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O78473","accessionNumber":"M.19-1937","objectType":"Jewel casket","titles":[{"title":"Queen Mary's Jewel Casket","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>This strong-box was used to carry jewellery and valuables when travelling, hence the handles at each end.  Its very ornate decoration also meant that it could be used as an item of furniture when fitted with a stand.  It combines very fine ornament with sophisticated security.<br><br><b>People</b><br>By tradition this jewel casket belonged to Queen Mary (1662-1695) and was made to hold the dowry paid on her marriage to William of Orange (1650-1702), later William  III, in 1677.  Their crowned cipher appears on the lock plate.  On the lid is a defaced wax seal that originally bore the arms of England as used by the Hanoverian dynasty.  In the 18th century this casket belonged to Sophia Dorothea, the sister of George II (reigned 1727-1760) and wife of Frederick William, King of Prussia.  He took it to Berlin, where it was purchased by the V&A in 1937.<br><br><b>The Maker</b><br>Although the jewel casket is not signed anywhere, the openwork decoration is blued steel and the chiselled and engraved brass ornament are very close to the locks made by the Royal locksmiths Walter and Charles Bickford. The Bickfords supplied locks to the English royal palaces and also made strong-boxes. There is a signed lock from their workshop in the V&A.  Another, smaller version of this jewel casket has been recorded.","physicalDescription":"Casket, steel, covered with velvet, overlaid with gilt-brass studs and openwork quatrefoils of blued steel, 24.5 x 47.5 x 32 cm.  Elaborate jewel casket, with a complicated locking system of four bolts, openwork ornament in blued steel, and finely engraved gilt-brass.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Bickford family, workshop of","id":"A9047"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"probably"}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Steel, pierced and engraved, covered with velvet, and overlaid with gilt-brass studs and blued steel","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Royalty","id":"THES48899"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2026PN8104","2024NY4238","2006AP1405","2017JV3720","2017JV3811"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"54A (VA)","id":"THES49250"},"free":"","case":"CA2","shelf":"","box":"9"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Casket","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1688-ca.1694","earliest":"1683-01-01","latest":"1698-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased with funds from the Murray Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"24.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"closed","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"47.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"32","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"10 estim S.Metcalf\nDimensions checked: Measured; 08/06/2000 by KB/AS\n\nsize closed","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This strong-box was used to carry jewellery and valuables when travelling. Its very ornate decoration also meant that it could be used as an item of furniture when fitted with a stand. It combines very fine ornament with sophisticated security. It was probably made in England by Walter or Charles Bickford, the Royal Locksmiths\n\nThe acquisition in 1937 of this elaborate jewel casket, with its complicated locking system of four bolts, openwork ornament in blued steel, and finely engraved gilt-brass, was a significant addition to the Museum's collection of objects made of iron and steel. One of the main reasons for its purchase was its royal connection and the traditional view that it was made for the dowry paid on the marriage of Queen Mary to William III; this view was supported not only by the crowned cipher of William and Mary around the keyholes but also by an eighteenth-century provenance linking it with Sophia Dorothea, sister of George II, and wife of Frederick William I of Prussia, who took it to Berlin. By 1918 the jewel casket was in the Schlossmuseum in  Berlin. It was sold to the V&amp;A for £500 to raise funds for the acquisition of part of the collection of medieval goldsmiths' work known as the Guelph Treasure, regarded as a notable part of the German heritage. The V&amp;A's opportunity to acquire what was considered an English national treasure thus came about through Berlin's attempts to retain a national treasure of its own.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Queen Mary's Jewel Casket, steel covered with velvet, probably made by the Bickford family, royal locksmiths, England, ca. 1688-94","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), <i>A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, London: V&A Publications, 1999.","id":"AUTH348910"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"quatrefoils","id":"AAT9784"},{"text":"openwork","id":"AAT253899"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThis casket for jewels is both practical and impressive. It is made of steel and fitted with handles and sophisticated locks for travelling. The decoration, using red velvet and pierced metalwork, is particularly rich and includes the cipher of William and Mary. It is thought to have contained Mary's dowry on her marriage to William III in 1677.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["M.19-1937"],"accessionNumberNum":"19","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1937,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LU7681"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-05","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-27","availableToBook":false}}