Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk

An early 19th century portrait miniature ring depicting Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk. The high carat gold tapering shanks supports a compartment set with a watercolour miniature of the Duke, under crystal. Charles Howard (15 March 1746 – 16 December 1815) was a British nobleman, peer, and politician. He was an active Tory and spent vast fortunes rebuilding and refurbishing Arundel Castle after inheriting his title and lands. Gerald Brenan, historian of the Howard family, described the duke as ‘self-asserting and aggressive, jealous of his dignities, but loud and coarse in manner and person; bon-vivant and given to over-indulgence in liquor; little conversant with literature, but . . . a man who with all his coarseness, was known to have performed kind actions, though with a bad grace’. [Brenan, The House of Howard, vol. II, p. 630]. The ring is size L and 1/2 [US 5 and 7/8] and the head of the ring measures 3/4 of an inch by 2/3 of an inch. A good strong portrait, an immaculate ring.

£3900