MINIATURE RING OF CHARLES I.
(Vol. vi., p. 578.)
By the courtesy of W. K. Rogers, Esq. (in whose possession it is), I am enabled to account for another of these interesting and invaluable relics; one of the four said to have been presented by the Martyr prior to his execution.
"Rogers of Lota.
This family was early remarkable for its loyalty and attachment to the Crown; a ring is still preserved as an heir-loom, which was presented to its ancestor by King Charles I. during his misfortunes."—Burke's Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland.
Robert Rogers of Lota received extensive grants of land from Charles II., which upon the accession of James II. were confirmed to him by letters patent. He was Mayor of Cork, 1680, M. P. for that city 1692, and again 1695. In the body of his will, bearing date 1690, and registered in the Record Court, Dublin, occurs the following
paragraph, embraced by brackets, as if he wished to convey forcibly his appreciation of the value of the relic:
["And I also bequeath to Noblett Rogers the miniature portrait-ring of the martyr Charles I., given by that monarch to my ancestor previous to his execution; and I particularly desire that it may be preserved in the name and family.">[
The miniature, which is beautifully painted in enamel, and said to be by Vandyke, has been reset in a tasteful and appropriate style; and it is in this state that I have seen it. But Mr. Rogers informs me that its original setting and inscriptions exactly corresponded with those of the ring in the possession of the Misses Pigott, described in Hulbert's History of Salop; and the same tradition exists in the family as to its having been one of four presented by Charles to certain of his friends or followers. There can be little question, therefore, as to the genuineness of both these rings. With regard to the portrait being the work of Vandyke, Mr. R. writes to me—
"I know not on what authority it is stated, but I believe there is not a family of old standing in the county Cork in which tradition has not assigned its execution to that master; and certainly in Rome, where it was much admired, the artists, when questioned 'Whose style?' frequently answered, 'Vandyke.'"
Portraits by Vandyke in enamel, it is said, are known to be in existence. Whether so renowned a master would have submitted to the wearisome and laborious operation of repeating a number of works so minute, even for a crowned head, seems to admit of a doubt; yet there is no difficulty in imagining him to have superintended the progress of the artist employed to copy his own portrait of Charles, and even to have bestowed some finishing touches upon it.
I have lately seen a ring with a portrait of Charles on ivory, in coarse and very inferior style, and in a plain gold setting. It is in the possession of a gentleman in whose family it has continued for several generations. Doubtless many such memorials of their murdered king were worn at the time by his devoted partizans, and may yet be in existence.
C. Ley.
Bere Regis.