You may not immediately spot the newest addition to Cliffe Castle’s rich and fascinating collections, but it’s taken two craftspeople many hours to create.  Strange as it might sound, however, they would be very pleased to know their work is so easily overlooked.

You may remember last year, when we were pleased to announce the return of the portrait of Queen Victoria by Lowes Cato Dickinson to Cliffe Castle after it left us over half a century ago.

However,  she was missing one important and rather vital (for a Queen) piece – her crown

The gilded carved wood crown that topped the magnificent frame when it was originally hung in the Breakfast room was missing when it was reinstated nearly 60 years later, leaving her most un-amused.

Using original photographs taken inside the building during the late 1800’s that showed the frame in its former glory as a reference point, museum curators were able to commission two Yorkshire craftspeople to reproduce the lost crown.  The funds for this project were kindly donated by the Friends of Cliffe Castle.

The crown was lovingly recreated using traditional materials and methods that would have been familiar with the original craftsmen.

Measurements were taken where the crown had sat on the frame and alongside the historical images of the frame, were used to work out the dimensions and design of the crown.

This design and information was then passed onto Graham Gamble, based in York, who then carved the crown by hand from solid pieces of Lime wood.

 Pam Keeton, then carefully water and oil gilded the crown using 23.5 carat gold leaf.

It’s been carefully toned to match the colour and wear of the existing frame so the two marry perfectly.

It then was carefully attached to the frame of the portrait.

Hopefully you won’t notice the newest addition immediately and it may just be us, but we think Queen Victoria is certainly looking a lot happier with her new ‘old’ crown back in place.