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Find your local specialistMrs. Anne Mee (née Foldstone) (British, 1770/5-1851)
Inscribed on the reverse FK: Febr. 19th 1821, ormolu mount, set in a leather travelling case.
Rectangular, 46mm (1 7/8in) high
Footnotes
The present lot is based on an oil painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence. In the original, painted circa 1800, in the Lothian Collection, the sitter is shown wearing a black ribbon choker in addition to her necklace. It has not been possible to ascertain the relevance of the inscription on the reverse.
Elizabeth married Peniston Lamb (later Lord Melbourne) in 1769, and, along with the Duchess of Devonshire dominated Whig society from 1774–1776. Lord Melbourne began an affair with an actress soon after his marriage, but Lady Melbourne remained faithful until a legitimate heir was born. She then had affairs with Lord Egremont and the Prince of Wales.
Her son William (later Prime Minister under William IV and Queen Victoria) was married to Lady Caroline Lamb, who had affairs with Sir Godfrey Webster in 1809 and Lord Byron in 1812. She found her daughter-in-law's complete lack of discretion unforgivable. She, herself met Lord Byron in 1811 and he came to regard her as his only "confidential correspondent on earth," "the best friend [he] ever had in [his] life, and the cleverest of women." She hoped her correspondence with Byron would persuade him to break off his relationship with Caroline and even encouraged him to pursue her niece, Annabella Milbanke, whom he married briefly. As a result of all her relationship engineering, when Caroline Lamb published her novel Glenarvon in 1816 she presented her mother-in-law as the crafty and villainous Lady Margaret Buchanan.