Elizabeth I silver bodkin

Elizabeth I sterling silver bodkin decorated with Tudor roses and Elizabethan engraving. Circa 1600. Two thirds of the way down, on one side of the bodkin, there is a makers punch. This could well be SB but it is difficult to be sure because the bodkin is rather narrow at that point and both sides of the punch have slipped off the edge.



This is a very decorative piece and it is a bonus to find that it has a makers mark. The rose was the emblem of the Tudor Dynasty, which ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. A rose would not have been used as an emblem later than this on silver. The Tudors were succeeded by the Stuart Dynasty, Kings of Scotland, who combined the two thrones. The rose as a symbol of England came later. At the period of this bodkin, a rose was a purely Tudor emblem and was worn on the sovereigns livery as well as being used as a popular symbol of loyalty to the sovereign.