Lot 490
A SCOTTISH FIRING GLASS
18TH CENTURY
Scottish Silver & Applied Arts
Auction: 17 August 2016 from 12:00 BST
Description
the drawn bowl above a short cylindrical stem and thick foot, the foot engraved to underside with acorn flanked by oak leaves and named 'LOCHIEL'
Dimensions
10cm high, diameter of bowl 6cm
Footnote
Note:
Donald Cameron of Lochiel, poetically known as 'Gentle Lochiel', was leader of the clan Cameron, a very important and powerful supporter of the Stuart Dynasty and a close aide of Prince Charles Edward Stuart.
His father had fought beside Charles's father James in the unsuccessful uprising of 1715, and he would carry the tradition forward when he raised the clan to support Charles in the '45. This would prove devastating for the clan who lost almost half their numbers thoughout the campaign and at Culloden.
This support for the Stuarts was cemented by the fierce rivalry between Cameron and the Dukes of Argyll who were staunch Royalists.
Cameron of Lochiel fled with Charles Edward after Culloden to France where he would stay until his death. While in France he unsuccessfully petitioned King Louis to support a future uprising. This devotion to the cause and his success as a Jacobite military commander led King Louis XV to appoint him Colonel-in-Chief of the Régiment d'Albanie in the French Army, as well as Chevalier of the Order of Saint Michael. Lochiel was also knighted by Charles Edward before dying at Bergues on 26 October 1748, never again having set foot in his homeland again after Culloden.
The addition of his name to this Jacobite glass is highly unusual and perhaps suggests original ownership by a Cameron who not only wanted to show support to Prince Charles Edward Stuart and the Jacobite cause, but also to their exiled clan leader.