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Stag c. 1860 - 1865

Silver, patinated silver alloy, bone, enamel | 10.8 x 22.0 x 13.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 41631

Queen's Lift Corridor, Osborne House

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  • This stag was a gift to Queen Victoria from the Satsuma domain, indicating a new era of friendship after the British bombardment of Kagoshima in August 1863. In 1865, 15 students from Satsuma came to study in Britain – an extremely risky venture, since legally the borders of Japan remained closed and its people faced severe punishment, even death, if they departed. The voyage was seen, however, as a crucial opportunity to gain information on industrialisation and engineering, knowledge which was felt to be lacking in Japan at the time, and to strengthen diplomatic ties between Britain and Satsuma. To this end, two gifts were presented by the delegation shortly after their arrival (RCIN 26154). During the subsequent three years until the Meiji Restoration, the Satsuma domain was considered an ally of Britain.

    Deer were traditionally considered divine messengers, holding sacred status, and a model of a stag was therefore perhaps a suitable diplomatic gift. It was also reminiscent of the deer around the queen’s beloved Highland home in Balmoral. Figures of recumbent deer were produced in Imari porcelain for export from the late seventeenth century. A pair was recorded, for instance, at Burghley House in 1688. The form remained popular in Japan, with porcelain versions being created throughout the nineteenth century, often with a matt glaze applied to the nose and hooves. A cream-glazed version was also produced in Satsuma ware in the 1850s. The pose of this stag closely resembles those porcelain versions. The silver body has been engraved and burnished to give the appearance of the distinctively spotted hide of the sika deer native to Japan.

    Text adapted from Japan: Courts and Culture (2020)

    Provenance

    Sent to Queen Victoria by Shimazu Tadayoshi, daimyō of Satsuma domain, 1865

    Recorded in the Upper Corridor of the Main Wing at Osborne in 1876 (Catalogue of the Paintings, Sculpture, and Other Works of Art at Osborne, no. 863, p. 342), with the note: 'Presented to the Queen in 1865, by Prince Satsuma, as a token of submission, after his defeat at Kagosima.'

    Also recorded in the Eastern Durbar Corridor at Osborne in 1933 with the note, 'Presented to H.M. Queen Victoria by the Emperor of Japan, 1887'(OS 1933, no.88.13, p.34) - though this cannot be possible, as the stag was already at Osborne by 1876.

  • Medium and techniques

    Silver, patinated silver alloy, bone, enamel

    Measurements

    10.8 x 22.0 x 13.5 cm (whole object)


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