Badge thumbnail 1
Badge thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Jewellery, Rooms 91, The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery

This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Badge

ca. 1862-ca.1864 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Double cameo portrait of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort engraved in onyx. First Class Badge of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert; oval onyx cameo with profile portrait of Victoria and Albert, in silver frame mounted with pastes, diamonds, emeralds and rubies.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Badge
  • Pastes (4)
Materials and techniques
Onyx cameo, with pastes, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, in silver and gold
Brief description
First Class Badge of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert with a cameo portrait of Victoria and Albert. Made by Garrard, ca. 1864, the cameo by Saulini.
Physical description
Double cameo portrait of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort engraved in onyx. First Class Badge of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert; oval onyx cameo with profile portrait of Victoria and Albert, in silver frame mounted with pastes, diamonds, emeralds and rubies.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8.8cm
  • Width: 4.3cm
  • Depth: 1.4cm
  • Cameo height: 3cm
  • Cameo width: 2.5cm
Object history
The badge took the design of the portrait heads from the medals by William Wyon for the Great Exhibition of 1851

From Ornament Gallery label text:
Double cameo portrait of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort engraved in onyx in the workshop of Tommaso Saulini (1793-1864) after the Great Exhibition medals, by William Wyon; signed: T. SAULINI. Mounted in a frame with projecting panels in the Elizabethan style (see Case 13, Board D, no.2[M.81-1935]), surmounted by the imperial crown, set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The brilliant-cut diamonds in the frame replaced by pastes, of probably 1890-1900. The cameo ITALIAN (Rome): about 1862-64; the setting ENGLISH (London): about 1864, executed by R. & S. Garrard, the Crown Jewellers. The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert was instituted by the Queen on 10 February 1862, after the Prince Consort's death. Membership of the First Class was confined to female members of the English and Continental royal families.
Historical context
The Royal Order was a personal tribute by Victoria to her husband Albert following his untimely death.
Subjects depicted
Associations
Collection
Accession number
M.180-1976

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJanuary 6, 2000
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest