The Honour and Grandeur - Michael Hall, Clare Gifford, Ralph Holt

An inscription on a silver-gilt cup and cover presented to the Lord Mayor in 1741 records that the intention of the gift was to increase “the Honour and Grandeur” of the City of London. It is just one piece of an exceptional collection of plate kept at Mansion House – along with dozens of pieces of official regalia that represent the Mayorality – which is constantly in use today to uphold that honor and in the grandest way possible. The continued use of ceremonial plate by the City of London is a rare survival of medieval practices of display. Though the collection has very little silver from before 1800, the quality and quantity of the nineteenth-and twentieth-century pieces is extraordinary. Before Mansion House was built between 1732 and 1754, the Lord Mayor’s guild hall or his own house had been used for formal entertaining by the City, and any silver presented during the year remained with the guild or became the Lord Mayor’s personal property. Since the mid eighteenth century, however, a vast and eclectic collection has grown up, seen regularly at banquets and events at the Guildhall and Mansion House. This new book will present over 80 of the finest and most historic pieces. New photography will be accompanied by full details and a commentary. Starting with the unique medieval Crystal Sceptre of 1420, seen only at the inauguration of the Lord Mayor and at Coronations, the regalia includes several famous items, notably the sixt
více informací