What are the HIDDEN MEANINGS within the DRAKE JEWEL, the fabulous and wildly expensive gift Queen Elizabeth I supposedly gave to Sir Francis Drake in the 1580s or early 1590s, possibly to commemorate his defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588? In this week’s historical jewellery documentary from History Calling we examine this rare and incredible piece of surviving Tudor jewellery which may be seen in contemporary portraits of Elizabeth’s famous sea captain and pirate, Sir Francis Drake. This pendant is comprised of a cameo of a black emperor and a white woman on the outside with a miniature portrait of Queen Elizabeth I on the inside, along with a picture of a phoenix. The miniature was painted by Sir Nicholas Hilliard. It is also set in gold and encrusted with numerous jewels, including rubies, diamonds and a cluster of pearls at its base, terminating in one large tear-drop pearl. What is the symbolism of this pendant though? When we decode the Drake jewel, what can it tell us about attitudes towards black people in Tudor England and about how Elizabeth I wanted to be depicted in portraiture, even in her later life? Furthermore, how has it made its way from Sir Francis Drake to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where it now resides? In this video you’ll get all the answers as I discuss its mythological inspirations (including to the god Saturn and goddess Astraeus) and its ties to English imperialism in the 16th century.

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MAIN SOURCES

Karen Dalton, ‘Art for the Sake of Dynasty: The Black Emperor in the Drake Jewel and Elizabethan Imperial Imagery’ in Peter Erickson and Clark Hulse (eds), Early modern visual culture: representation, race, empire in Renaissance England (Pennsylvania, 2000).

Meryl Bailey, ‘"SALVATRIX MUNDI": REPRESENTING QUEEN ELIZABETH I AS A CHRIST TYPE’ in Studies in Iconography, Vol. 29 (2008), pp. 176-215.

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THUMBNAIL: pictures of Drake jewel and Elizabeth by History Calling. Portrait of Sir Francis Drake, Royal Museums Greenwich.

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