Tuesday, 07 May 2013
A diamond ring given by Charles I to his 19-year-old wife, the armour of a fashion-conscious 13-year-old boy who should have been king, and the diamond-encrusted box in which a queen kept her face patches are among the highlights of a new exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace.
Opening this Friday, 10 May 2013, In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion provides an insight into the world of the rich and famous of the 16th and 17th centuries. The exhibition includes over 60 portraits from the Royal Collection, as well as rare surviving contemporary examples of clothing and accessories. A number of works go on display for the first time.
Just as today, the fashion-conscious Tudors and Stuarts copied the styles of those they admired. In 1666, Charles II announced that he was to introduce a new fashion for men – a long vest worn under a coat, instead of a short doublet and cloak. The King is seen wearing this new coat in the painting Charles II presented with a pineapple, c.1675. The style, which eventually became the three-piece suit, spread so quickly that just three weeks after the fashion was introduced, the diarist Samuel Pepys was wearing his own version.
In the Tudor and Stuart periods, even armour followed fashion. The ornate set belonging to the 13-year-old Henry, Prince of Wales (c.1607) was designed to echo the full breeches and V-shaped doublets of the day. The armour was a gift from a French nobleman and a statement of great extravagance, particularly since the young Prince would soon have outgrown it. Heir to the English and Scottish thrones, Henry died of typhoid fever at the age of 18, and his younger brother succeeded him as the ill-fated Charles I.
Other works on display include a gold and diamond signet ring given to a young Henrietta Maria Queen by her husband Charles I in around 1628, three years after their marriage, and Mary II’s patch box made of enamelled gold set with diamonds. In the 17th century, black fabric patches were stuck to the face to emphasise the creamy white skin of the leisured class and to conceal blemishes. They were applied using saliva or adhesive and produced in a variety of shapes, from crescents and flowers to animals.
Exhibition curator Anna Reynolds said, ‘The exhibition presents the opportunity to explore the fashions of the Tudor and Stuart period through art. Fashion was hugely important to court life and entry to the “inner circle” was largely driven by personal appearance. The rich and powerful were the trend-setters of the age and used clothing to send out messages about their taste and status.’
The exhibition In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion is at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, 10 May – 6 October 2013.
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