Cameo box with mysterious royal inscription is up for auction in Cambridgeshire
Rare item could fetch £1,000
An item destined to garner interest from royal collectors will go under the hammer at Willingham Auctions on Saturday (January 6).
The silver and enamel box is engraved on the back with the message ‘from Princess Victoria’ and could fetch £1,000.
A spokesman for Willingham Auctions, Stephen Drake, said: “It is a very good quality oval silver and enamel cameo box of royal interest as it is engraved ‘AR from Princess Victoria December 1905’.”
He added: “There is a possible link to Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein but no proven provenance.
“More research has shown it could have come from Princess Victoria of Wales, the daughter of King Edward VII.
“We are hoping it will sell for above £1,000 and has an estimate of £800 to £1,600 and is quite a rare piece made by a very good quality silversmith who had made a box for King Edward VII.”
The finely carved cameo is set in blue guilloche enamel with a gilt metal scroll border, and hallmarked London 190203. The maker is James Samuel Bell.
