TREASURES KING GEORGE INHERITS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9913, 30 July 1910, Page 1

TREASURES KING GEORGE INHERITS.

(" Pearson's Weekly.") '

Both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace are overflowing with treasures of every description—plate, pictures, jewels, statuary, books and relics of enormous historic value. When our

lato King came to the throne he found valuables of all kinds locked away, undisplayed and uncatalogued, and—worse than all—absolutely unprotected from fire.

During his all too brief reign King Edward effected a complete revolution. In the first place he installed eiectric light all through both the chief Royal residences, in the second be put in every possible appliance and arrangement for tire fighting, and after that extended the Royal library, inspected the gold pantry, and had all the various treasures of the two pah jes properly inventoried and displayed. 'lhe value of the plate alone which King George inherits is a.most inestimable. Iho so-called gold pantry at Windsor consists of two largo nreproofi store-rjoins in which is kept plate of an estimated value of £1,750,000.

The gold plate which is used for State banquets weighs over live tons. It is not, of course, all solid gold. If the larger pieces were gola they would be too heavy to move at all. Some of the epergnes take four men to lift. Tnese are of silver gilt. It takes one man to carry two dishes or eight plates. Tho latter aro of pure gold. RELICS FROM THE SPANISH ARMADA. Ti.ere is not much ancient English ■plate in,the gold pantry. Charles I. molted down all the plate of his day and coined it into money. But there aro s-me exqu siti for ign pi oes among them a great silver flagon taken from tho liagship of the Spanish Armada, and the famous ''N.utihis" Cup, made by ti at master of tho art, Benvenuto Cellini.. There is a shield by the same great Italian, and the wonderful gold tiger's head taken from Tippoo Sahib's throne after the storming of Seringapatam in 1799. This tir.-er's Jiead is a marvellous work of art. It is ii.e-size, and its teet.'i and eyes are cut out of puro rock crystal. Ano .h:-r rel.'c cai.t red at the same time is the jewelled bird called the "Uma." In shape it is like a pigeon, with a peacock's tail. Its feathers blaze with pre:ions stones, and a magnificent omerald han;.:s from its bre'rst. According to an old Indian legend, whoever owns this bird wi 1 rulo India.

There is al c o a shield formed of snuff boxes and valued at £9OOO, and a great .quantity of beautiful cuas .and salvers, among them a rose-water fountain of silver designed by. the lato Prince Consort, and weighing hourly SOCOoz.. D.tectives. wl o reside at the Castle as ordinary officials guard these vast treasures of plate, and also the jewels which are locked in another underground safe. These jewels have, of course, nothing to do with the Crown jev. eh, whi h are kept in the Tower. They are the private property of the Rovai Family. Queen Alexandra's' personal jewellrry is of immense val ;e and for precaution's sake has, we bo'-'eve, bem all clup'icrted in paste. 8.. t Windsor Castle is not the\place for tho enterprising btrg'ar to go " a-burg'ing." There is an old law, still unrepealed, which enable the reirning Sovereign to p:;t to death any person dr persons through whose carelessness any of his gems may be lost, Windsor's koyal LnniAßf. ' The Royal library at Windsor contains over 100,000 volumes, among them many that would fetch enormous prices if put up to auction. There is a Metz Psalter for which a collector would sell his last stick; a Charles I. Shakespeare, a magnificent Caxton on v:Uum, and other treasures too numerous to mention. Below the library is a room containing one of the finest collections of prints in existence. These alone would probably fetch fifty to seventy thousand pounds if sold. Tn the same room are no fewer than 20,000 drawings of the-old masters and a collection of over

1000 miniatures. The late Queen Victoria collected these miniatures. Besides all these ancient" treasures, King George will presumably inherit the great collection of valuable objects got topethpr by his father. These include the Coronation presents, valued at over a quarter of a million, and many Indian works of art, including a wonderful embo sed shield of solid gold given by a number of rajahs.

There is no reigning monarch in the world, not even the Czar of all the Russian, who is master of such an amazing collection of beautiful and valuable objects as is George Y.