Estimated price set on antique Kildonan gold locket gifted by Duke of Sutherland's daughter set to go under hammer with 'huge amount of interest' shown in Highland piece
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A historic item of jewellery with a fascinating Highland connection is set to go under the hammer in a Fine Art and Antiques Auction hosted by an English auction house next week.
Chorley’s Auction House, which is based in Gloucestershire, is selling a Victorian locket “made of gold from the Duke of Sutherland’s mine at Kildonan”.
The stunning piece, which dates back at least 153 years, is expected to fetch between £600 and £800.
It was gifted by the daughter of the 1st Duke of Sutherland to another member of the aristocracy in 1869 and is being sold by one of the recipient's descendants.
Thomas Jenner-Fust, Chorley’s director and auctioneer, said that the piece was “unique” and that its sale had sparked a “huge amount of interest”.
He said: “We expect to exceed the price we have set.”
The locket is contained in its own fitted case and comes with a note explaining its provenance.
On its reverse is a glazed panel containing a 3cm diameter photograph.
A note that goes with it states that the locket was given by Charlotte, Duchess of Norfolk, to Louisa Blanche Howard in 1869.
Born in 1788, Charlotte was the daughter of the 1st Duke of Sutherland and his wife Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland in her own right. She married Henry Charles Howard in 1814 and became the Duchess of Norfolk when he succeeded his father to the title of Duke of Norfolk.
Charlotte died in 1870, a year after gifting the locket
Louisa Blanche Howard was born in 1842 and married Cecil Foljambe, the 1st Earl of Liverpool. She died in 1871.
Mr Jenner-Fust said the locket was being sold by the current Earl of Liverpool.
Despite the reference to “mine” in the note, gold was not mined at Kildonan but rather panned from the gravel of the Helmsdale river and various burns and tributaries.
A short-lived gold rush began in 1869 after it became widely known that Robert Nelson Gilchrist, a native of Kildonan, who had spent 17 years in the goldfields of Australia, had found gold. He had been given permission to pan for gold by the then Duke of Sutherland.
Within six months, more than 600 hopeful prospectors had made their way to the normally deserted Kildonan glen. A shanty town sprung up and came to be known as Baile an Or - Village of the Gold.
However, the Great Sutherland Gold Rush lasted just over a year with the duke soon realising that the prospecting was causing disruption to fishing, stalking game and raising sheep in the strath. He decreed that all mining activity must stop on January 1, 1870.
You can still obtain a licence to pan for gold recreationally in specified areas of Kildonan burn for up to two weeks a year by permission of Suisgill Estate.
Chorley's sales offer prospective buyers the facility to bid live online. Visit www.chorleys.com
