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5:17 pm
July 9, 2009
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This may be a controversial subject, but I'm not convinced the famous Chequers Ring is not a depiction of Katherine Parr. As mentioned in this thread, the woman in the ring appears to be a blonde. Elizabeth barely knew her mother but she was very close (and importantly, shared religious bonds) to Katherine Parr. Katherine caught a teenage Elizabeth in the arms of her husband Thomas Seymour. Although the two seem to have reconcilled, Katherine died a few months later. Isn't it possible that Elizabeth kept a memento of the beloved stepmother she'd betrayed in a secret place she could look at often?
Susan James, who identified the NPG portrait of Katherine Parr also thinks the Chequers ring depicts Katherine. This article on the Melton Constable portrait goes a bit into it. It seems that many portraits currently identified as Lady Jane Grey may in fact depict Katherine Parr. If the NPG Katherine Parr and the Melton COnstable portrait depict the same woman, it seems to me that Elizabeth I's Chequers Ring may depict the same woman. The eyebrows, face shape, hair color, and eyes are very similar. What do you all think?
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
7:18 pm
May 16, 2011
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I hope it's Anne. That ring shows that Elizabeth really loved Anne. Darn, that'd suck it's not Anne 
• Grumble all you like, this is how it’s going to be.
11:40 pm
June 7, 2011
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I think it might be Anne, she never opened it in front of anyone – there would be no need to hide her affection for Katherine Parr. People were always depicted differently in the past – hair colour was changed, eye colour, skin colour, to coincide with the current fashion or on request of the subject the artist was painting.
If I were Elizabeth, I would of wanted to feel close to the woman who gave me life. Just like people who have been adopted or lost contact with their parents, eventually many want to know who they really are and where they really come from.
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
1:05 am
June 7, 2011
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What if the gold hair symbolised her martyrdom?
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
4:06 am
May 20, 2011
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I am not an expert on paintings, colours and the like, but maybe the hair colour was indeed originally brunette and the colour just faded over the times?
Or the painter chose a lighter tone for Anne's hair because the small painting would have been really really dark with the black clothes, black hood and black hair on top of it?
The thought that this could not be Anne never crossed my mind before, I have to admit. Of course it could be, but I for one do think it is Anne. Even though Elizabeth did not really know her mother, I am sure she still missed Anne for the rest of her life.
7:53 am
June 7, 2010
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I have to agree with elliemarianna: if it's Katherine Parr depicted, why the need to keep it a secret? Everyone knew Elizabeth's feeling for Katherine, and the impact she had on a young Elizabeth.
I also agree that certain things about people change depending on their portrait. Since it's not a photograph, the interpreation is up to the author, the sitter, or the person commissioning the painting.
I am going to need more evidence from Susan James (and others who support her theory) to accept the portrait to be anyone other than Anne. To me, Anne makes logical sense. It was imperative for Elizabeth to keep any momento or physical reminder of her mother hidden. Even during Elizabeth's reign, Anne's image and memory were carefully dealt with.
Just my opinion here (for whatever is worth), but after looking at the Chequers ring from Ives's book, and a few identified portraits of KP, I think the woman in the Chequers Ring is Anne. The elongaged face matches the coin of Anne from 1534. KP appears to have a rounder, softer face than the woman in the Chequers Ring.
Is it just me, or is the woman in the Chequers ring wearing a traditional French hood from the 1520's and early 1530's (much like Anne wore)? The NP 4551 portrait of KP shows a different style of French hood from a later period.
I am not an expert, so these are simply my observations and some questions that came to me in retrospect.
"By daily proof you shall find me to be to you both loving and kind" Anne Boleyn
9:27 am
May 16, 2011
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I agree with everyone else. I'd want to have something to remind me of my mother (if she died). And since Anne was considered a traitor maybe it was a good idea to keep her ring a secret. If it was Katherine Parr i really don't understand the need to hide it. I also think it's possible that the paint could've faded over all these years. I just really really hope it's Anne in that ring.
• Grumble all you like, this is how it’s going to be.
10:36 am
February 24, 2010
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I hope it's Anne. This miniature of Anne and the ring portrait of Anne are very similar. The site where I found the miniature says this image is closest to the ring poritrait, and may have been used for the ring.
10:40 am
February 24, 2010
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Well that didn't work. I'll try that again.
2:12 pm
January 9, 2010
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I agree with you Duchess. I think the woman in the Chequers ring is definitely Anne based on facial features and the style of jewellery and clothing depicted. In the coin of Anne the sitters face is elongated with high cheekbones, facial characteristics that Elizabeth herself inherited. And the style of French hood is more common with that of the 1530's when the hood traditionally sat closer to the head. It wasn't until the 1540's that hoods became more rounded, elaborate and higher. The jewellery that the sitter in the ring wears is also based on jewellery that Anne was (in Elizabeth's time) accepted to have worn.
Just my opinion, but taken as a whole, the prototype depicted in the ring was by the time Elizabeth became queen accepted to be that of Anne. Portraits dating from the latter part of the 16th century (including the NPG one of Anne and the Hever portrait) are based on this very model. Of course the ring wasn't made until Elizabeth became queen and Anne herself had been dead a number of years and whom the artist probably never saw, but there's no doubt in my mind that it is supposed to portray Anne and no one else.
3:46 pm
February 10, 2010
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I too think it's Anne – pretty much for the reasons everyone has said. Also the ring is tiny, which makes it all the more remarkable the painter has managed to convey such a level of detail. It also explains why the French hood looks a little more upright than in does in the larger pictures. However, the biliaments are the simple form from the 1520s/30s rather than the more ornate ones seen in the 1540s.
I agree with the article on the mis-identification of Lady Jane Grey and Katherine Parr. I wonder if (when someone is trying to remember to identify portraits) they looked quite alike?
8:21 pm
July 9, 2009
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We all seem to *want* it to be Anne but I’m still not convinced. The portrait does bear a resemblance to the miniature Sharon posted, but I don’t see how it would actually be based on it. We’d need to know more about the miniature.
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
3:21 am
June 7, 2010
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I understand your position, Melissa. I may see Anne, but there is no evidence to suggest that it's not her, and there is certainly no credible evidence that it's Katherine Parr, either. I agree, we need more information about the ring. However, I highly doubt that kind of evidence is avaliable.
"By daily proof you shall find me to be to you both loving and kind" Anne Boleyn
5:25 am
February 10, 2010
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I first read about the ring in Ives. His comment is that 'not only is Anne by far the most likely woman of the previous generation to be thus matched with Elizabeth, the face mask is quite clearly that of the sitter in the Hever and National Portrait Gallery paintings…that image must have been accepted in Elizabeth's court as a likeness of the queen's mother. Elizabeth herself could obviously have had no clear recollection of Anne's face, but others around her had known Henry's second wife well.'
8:38 am
May 19, 2011
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I believe it is Anne. I read somewhere that aring was opened on Elizabeths death to reveal a portrait of her mother.. Plus, images of Catheryn Parr look nothing like the portrait in the ring! Anne has been discribed by her contemporaries as having lighter hair and other sources darker hair..
Catheryn Parr held Elizabeth down in the garden while her husband cut Elizabeths dress to ribbons. I think the whole Seymour situation was one Elizabeth learned a great lesson from whilst not wanting to remember.. She would not have a secret portrait of this woman about her.. She loved Catheryn yes and must have been confused by her stepmothers actions as well as her own with Thomas. But her image in a ring? No, it must be Anne. The cost of the item, it's workmanship, that it was secret. It was her mother, secretly close by to Elizabeth all along…
"A fresh young damsel, who could trip and go"
1:49 pm
June 7, 2011
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E said:
I believe it is Anne. I read somewhere that aring was opened on Elizabeths death to reveal a portrait of her mother.. Plus, images of Catheryn Parr look nothing like the portrait in the ring! Anne has been discribed by her contemporaries as having lighter hair and other sources darker hair..
Catheryn Parr held Elizabeth down in the garden while her husband cut Elizabeths dress to ribbons. I think the whole Seymour situation was one Elizabeth learned a great lesson from whilst not wanting to remember.. She would not have a secret portrait of this woman about her.. She loved Catheryn yes and must have been confused by her stepmothers actions as well as her own with Thomas. But her image in a ring? No, it must be Anne. The cost of the item, it's workmanship, that it was secret. It was her mother, secretly close by to Elizabeth all along…
Where does it say Anne had light hair?
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
7:14 pm
August 12, 2009
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In some pictures of the ring, it looks like “Anne” is blonde, but I think it's just the gold edging on the front of the hood.
If you compare these two pictures of the ring, you can see that it's all in the angle the picture was taken.
Ack! When I hit 'edit', the pictures are there and when I save the post, they're not. Let me try direct links.
"Don't knock at death's door.
Ring the bell and run. He hates that."
8:21 am
May 19, 2011
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Elliemarianna said:
E said:
I believe it is Anne. I read somewhere that aring was opened on Elizabeths death to reveal a portrait of her mother.. Plus, images of Catheryn Parr look nothing like the portrait in the ring! Anne has been discribed by her contemporaries as having lighter hair and other sources darker hair..
Catheryn Parr held Elizabeth down in the garden while her husband cut Elizabeths dress to ribbons. I think the whole Seymour situation was one Elizabeth learned a great lesson from whilst not wanting to remember.. She would not have a secret portrait of this woman about her.. She loved Catheryn yes and must have been confused by her stepmothers actions as well as her own with Thomas. But her image in a ring? No, it must be Anne. The cost of the item, it's workmanship, that it was secret. It was her mother, secretly close by to Elizabeth all along…
Where does it say Anne had light hair?
Oh god- in one of the Tudor books I have- Starkey, Weir, Frasier, Jane Dunn- I can't remember which one, but she has been described as having both light and dark hair! I took this to mean she had chestnut locks, darker in some light and lighter in others… My post was meant to reflect how the little information we have on Anne is swayed by the individual opinions of her contemporaries etc..
"A fresh young damsel, who could trip and go"
11:38 am
February 10, 2010
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Impish_Impulse said:
In some pictures of the ring, it looks like “Anne” is blonde, but I think it's just the gold edging on the front of the hood.
If you compare these two pictures of the ring, you can see that it's all in the angle the picture was taken.
Ack! When I hit 'edit', the pictures are there and when I sav
e the post, they're not. Let me try direct links.
I still can't get over the level of detail in the pictures: the ruff and sleeves on the picture of Elizabeth and the pearls and chain on Anne's picture. Looking at them with this level of magnification it almost looks as if both have had gold deliberately put on their hair. I wonder if this is meant to signify jewels in Elizabeth's hair and the gold circlet (if that's what it's called) that Anne wears in some of the versions of the portrait in the French hood? It's just a thought but it could be the gold has survived whereas the original paint has deteriorated. I'm not sure what the recipe was for brown paint 400+ years ago but you only have to see the computer-generated tapestries at Hampton Court to see how time fades dyes.
12:02 pm
December 12, 2010
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I think it's definitely Anne in that portrait. Her hair isn't blonde, but brown with a gold band. As you said Anne Fan, it looks like whoever painted it deliberately painted gold in her hair, and the portrait of Elizabeth too. It is amazing detail for such small portraits.
