Scottish Historic Tapestry Jacobites Treason Hand Toasting James III King Over the Water

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1 Beautiful Historic Scottish Rare Decorative Framed Tapestry Work of Art Jacobites Treason Hand Toasting James III King Over The … Read more 1 Beautiful Historic Scottish Rare Decorative Framed Tapestry Work of Art Jacobites Treason Hand Toasting James III King Over The Water Glass With White Rose.
Subject Jacobites Toasting The King over the water James III, pictorial of the hand that holds a treason glass , the hand is surrounded by a large laced ruff cuff collar & is carefully holding the Jacobite treason drinking glass, which has the white rose symbol on, a single lit candle is shown to the right. Prince Charles Edwards plaid symbol is shown top right, also the cockade is seen on the left.
This is such a wonderful appealing item to collectors highly collectible & sought after.
Beautifully handmade from wool & set in a fine traditional original gilt frame with a front protective glass cover.
Circa late 20th century dated 1974 verso.
Inscribed by the maker on label verso M.A Knowles.
Ready for immediate home wall display with hanging thread verso.
Jacobite, in British history, a supporter of the exiled Stuart king James II (Latin: Jacobus) and his descendants after the Glorious Revolution. In 1688 James II, the Catholic King of England, Scotland and Ireland, was ousted by parliament in the Glorious Revolution and fled to exile in France. James did not, however, quietly relinquish his claim to the throne, and immediately began plotting his return. So began a political and military struggle that would last for almost sixty years as the Stuart dynasty sought to reclaim its lost kingdoms.
Throughout the years of struggle in exile, the Stuarts continued to have many supporters in England and Scotland. Because their support was treasonous, the Stuart sympathisers – the Jacobites – instituted, among other things, the practice of drinking toasts to their king ‘over the water’ in glasses engraved with coded symbols that reflected their loyalties. Often a glass of wine would be held above a bowl or glass of water as a toast to the health of the king was offered; thus literally toasting the king over the water.
Jacobite symbols
Jacobite glasses were decorated with engraved cryptic symbols and mottos which, to those who understood their coded messages, spoke of the drinker’s loyalty to the Stuart dynasty. By far the most common symbol was the six-petalled white heraldic rose, an ancient emblem of the Stuarts. The white rose also had connotations of strict legitimacy. Its adoption by James III as his personal badge was particularly appropriate as rumours of his illegitimacy had been circulated by political enemies since his birth.
On its own, the white rose is believed to have stood for the exiled king. A rose bud to the right of the rose represented his heir apparent, Prince Charles Edward Stuart. A second rosebud, to the left of the rose, represented Prince Henry Benedict Stuart, Princes Charles’s younger brother. When there are two rosebuds, that representing Prince Charles is often larger and on the verge of opening. Other emblems employed include:
The thistle, representing the Stuarts’ claim to the Scottish throne. The thistle surmounted by a crown was an ancient badge of Scotland. The Prince of Wales feathers, representing the Stuart heir-apparent’s claim to this title traditionally given to the heir to the English throne. A star, representing the ascendency of the Stuart cause and also, perhaps, Prince Charles (a star is said to have appeared in the sky at his birth). The star usually appears on the reverse side of the glass to the heraldic rose, and often appears with the oak leaf or, more rarely, a thistle. Jacobites would often kiss the star on the glass after drinking the loyal toast. The oak leaf and the acorn. The oak was an ancient Stuart badge and an emblem of the Stuart Restoration. Charles II hid in an oak in the grounds of Boscobel House during the English Civil War, and in 1660 he wore oak leaves as he returned from exile in France to assume the throne.
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Dimensions in centimetres of the frame

Length depth thickness (1.5cm)
Wide (25cm)
High (31 cm) See less