

In fact the ‘Gartered G.C.B.s’ each received four badges of different sizes, for wear on a sash, on the collar, at the neck (as here) and in a reduced size for evening wear (see lot 14). To complicate matters further, an invoice of July 1817 sent to the Lord Chamberlain from the Crown Jewellers, Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, specified a charge for ‘Remaking Crowns to the Gold enamelled Badges prepared for Their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Kent, Cumberland and Cambridge to drawing received, surmounted by the English Crown and afterwards altered to Imperial Crown’. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the hallmarks on the present badge are unclear.