George IV Silver Gilt Cup & Cover Made by Rundell, Bridge & Rundell and Presented by Queen Victoria to Her First Godson Victor Buckley in 1838

George IV Silver Gilt Cup and Cover Made by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell and Presented by Queen Victoria to her First Godson Victor Buckley in 1838 This cup and cover was made by the Royal makers Rundell, Bridge and Rundell in 1828 before being repurposed as a very generous christening gift by Queen Victoria who presented it to her first Godson, Victor Buckley, at his Christening in 1838. The cup stands on three beautifully cast dolphin supporters and above these is putti rowing boats made from scallop shells. The top of the cover has an exceptional floral finial. The cup and cover also retains the original wooden box with partial Rundell label still attached. Queen Victoria accepted Buckley as her first Godchild due to the fact that both of his parents had been in Royal service for many years. Buckley’s father, General Edward Buckley, was the Queen’s Equerry for over 20 years and his wife Catherine Buckley (nee Pleydell-Bouverie) was the Queen’s lady in waiting. Sadly, though, Buckley turned out to be a historically important figure for all of the wrong reasons. Born in to a life of great privilege, Buckley began a career in the civil service, largely in the Foreign Office. He had risen to the position of Junior Clerk by the time that the US Civil War was at its height and, most historians now believe, it was he who acted as a spy for the American Confederate navy in London, tipping off his handlers in the US as to the operations of the UK government and thus making it possible for a Confederate warship, the USS Alabama, to be built in England and then sent to the southern US for active service, despite the UK government having agreed to a demand from the Union side to seize the ship and prevent it leaving the country. This ship inflicted massive damage on the Union fleet and mercantile shipping. At the arbitration in Geneva after the war in 1871, Britain was forced to pay a $15.5 million reparation bill to the victorious Union side and it is believed that more than half of this bill was a direct result of the Alabama incident. In The Lion and the Fox: Two Rival Spies and the Secret Plot to Build a Confederate Navy, Alexander Rose characterises Buckley as the perfect choice for a spy. His greed made him easy to recruit and his social class and standing made him above reproach as far as his peers were concerned. Indeed it was only his sudden accumulation of vast wealth that indicated that something unusual was happening and this wealth was then conveniently reinvested in cotton plantations in the southern US. Buckley’s links with the Queen are likely to be what saved him from prison or even execution for high treason. Instead the aristocratic establishment closed ranks around him and instead of censure or punishment, Buckley was in fact promoted, becoming the youngest serving head of department in the Foreign Office at the time of his death in 1882. Although it is clear that Buckley was a deeply unpleasant character, he had a fascinating life and this cup and cover tells a story of greed and spying and serves as a cautionary tale about greed no matter what one’s background. It is also a wonderful work of art by the most important silversmith of the George IV period.