Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Royal House of Stuart, 1688-1788: Works of Art from the Drambuie Collection

On February 5, the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, University of Richmond Museums, will open Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Royal House of Stuart, 1688-1788: Works of Art from the Drambuie Collection. On view through May 7, 2005, the exhibition features more than one hundred diverse works of art and artifacts that will offer the visitor a fascinating insight into the uses of art, both as an elegant weapon of propaganda and as a means of expressing loyalty to an ancestral king in an age of turmoil and revolution.

The portraits, medals, miniatures, ceramics, and, above all, engraved glasses in this exhibition tell the story of the exiled British King James II (reign 1685-1688) and his descendants (son James Edward and grandson Charles Edward, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie), and their unsuccessful attempts to regain the throne for the Stuart dynasty.

The Stuarts, direct descendants of the great Scots hero Robert the Bruce, had ruled Scotland for more than 300 years before ascending the British throne in 1603. Facing extreme opposition to his Roman Catholic faith, James the II was replaced during the Revolution of 1688 by his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William. In the advent of unsuccessful attempts to regain the throne, the elder king retreated to France, where he raised his son (by his second wife), James Edward.

Born in Rome, the young Prince Charles (1720-1788) led the final abortive charge to reinstate the Stuarts. In 1745 he landed in western Scotland and marched through Edinburgh towards London. Upon reaching Derby, Charles and his 5,500 supporters were forced to retreat, and were finally defeated at the Battle of Culloden. After months on the run, Charles returned to France. He died over forty years later, an embittered shadow of the ‘Bonnie Prince’ of legend.

Stuart supporters, called Jacobites, created or commissioned objects that affirmed their loyalty. Because supporting the exiled family was a treasonable offense and could be punished by death, much of the art they produced was either small and easy to conceal, or else it contained secret symbols and curious codes that still have not been completely deciphered.

Among the 58 Jacobite drinking glasses on view, the “Amen” glass, circa 1745, is an outstanding example of free-hand engraving, drawn trumpet bowl, and spiral air twist stem. The finest, rarest, and most valuable of its kind, this glass bears a subversive toast to the “King o’er the Water,” as a reference to Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Other extraordinary objects in the exhibition include a matched pair of miniature portraits executed in oil on ivory that depict 14-year-old Prince Charles and his brother Prince Henry in armor, painted by the Venetian-born artist Antonio David, who served as court portraitist to the Stuarts. Also on view is “The Holyrood Letter,” a pivotal document in the history of the Jacobite uprising of 1745 and one of very few handwritten letters by Prince Charles, in which the Scottish nephew pleads with his uncle, Louis XV of France, for military aid.

The Drambuie liqueur recipe is actually based upon Prince Charlie’s personal liqueur. In 1746, as he was fleeing Scotland, the prince bestowed the recipe to Captain John MacKinnon of Strathaird who had provided shelter prior to Charles’ final retreat. The Drambuie Liqueur Company remains today in the hands of the MacKinnon family. The liqueur’s name was coined from the Gaelic “An Dram Buidheach,” which means “the drink that satisfies.”

Drawn from the private collection of The Drambuie Liqueur Company Ltd, this is the first time these objects have traveled outside of the United Kingdom. The University of Richmond Museums is one of seven American venues on the tour.

The exhibition is accompanied by a full-color catalogue featuring an essay by Robin Nicholson, Curator of the Drambuie Collection and of the exhibition, and noted author on the Stuarts. The publication is available for sale at the Harnett Museum of Art.

Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Royal House of Stuart, 1688-1788: Works of Art from the Drambuie Collection and its nationwide tour have been made possible by The Drambuie Liqueur Company Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland.

The exhibition’s accompanying events were made possible in part with the support of the University’s Cultural Affairs Committee and the 175th Anniversary Committee. The exhibition is presented in conjunction with the semester-long Rococo festival featuring lectures, performances, and a symposium.