Creator: Garrard & Co (jeweller) Creation Date: 1870 Materials: Silver, diamonds Dimensions: 9.

9 cm RCIN 31705 Acquirer: Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819-1901) Provenance: Made for Queen Victoria in 1870 by the Crown Jewellers, R.S. Garrard & Co. Description: The crown comprises an openwork silver frame set with 1,187 brilliant-cut and rose-cut diamonds in open-backed collet mounts. The band is formed with a frieze of lozenges and ovals in oval apertures, between two rows of single diamonds, supporting four crossespatte and four fleurs-de-lis, with four half-arches above, surmounted by a monde and a further cross-patte. The crown was designed to be worn by Queen Victoria on top of her widow's cap. The priorities in creating the design were lightness and comfort and the crown may have been based on Queen Charlotte's nuptual crown which had been returned to Hanover earlier in the reign. Queen Victoria wore this crown for the first time at the opening of Parliament on 9 February 1871, and frequently used it after that date for State occasions, and for receiving guests at formal Drawing-rooms. It was also her choice for many of the portraits of her later reign, sometimes worn without the arches. By the time of her death, the small crown had become so closely associated with the image of the Queen, that it was placed on her coffin at Osborne. After Queen Victoria's death, the crown was worn by Queen Alexandra and later, Queen Mary. In 1937, King George VI added it to the regalia at the Tower of London, although it has never been used at a coronation ceremony.

R. & S. Garrard & Co.,1870 Silver, diamonds 9.9 cm This diminutive crown, which measures no more than 10 cm in diameter, was supplied by R. & S. Garrard and Co. in March 1870. The crown became the most recognisable jewel of Queen Victorias middle and old age and she was regularly depicted wearing it in paintings, sculptures, on coins and in photographs, notably her official portrait by W. & D. Downey, taken in 1893 and released to mark her Diamond Jubilee on 22 June 1897. It consists of a silver openwork frame, laminated with gold and set with 1,187 brilliant, rose and mixed-cut diamonds and some diamond chips. Following Prince Alberts untimely death on 14 December 1861, the Queen withdrew from public engagements for a long period. For the remainder of her life she wore mourning clothes, with which she found it impossible to wear her coloured jewels that were so closely associated with happier times. The commissioning of the Small Diamond Crown satisfied the need for a formal head ornament of colourless stones, suitable for mourning and usually worn over a veil of Honiton lace. The Queen recorded the first wearing of the crown in her Journal on 9 February 1871 at the State Opening of Parliament: Wore a dress trimmed with ermine & my new small diamond crown over a veil, on my head. The crown was placed on the Queens coffin at Osborne before her body was conveyed to London for the state funeral in February 1901. It was subsequently worn by Queen Alexandra, who then relinquished it to Queen Mary. In 1937, King George VI instructed that the crown be added to the display of regalia at the Tower of London.