A gift made to King Charles during the recent royal visit on behalf of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, puts paid once and for all to the monarch’s father’s notorious quip that Canberra was “a city without a soul”.
The commissioned gift, an ornate plate crafted by Yass Valley artist Peter Crisp, was encased in a box made by Scott Mitchell, of Lake George, packed with Merino wool felted pieces knitted by Queanbeyan artist Alice Leda Pettirosso inside a woven wool carry bag by Canberra textile artist Jennifer Robertson.
Crisp, one of Australia’s best-known glass artists, is no stranger to royalty, having in the past presented another glass platter to the then Prince Charles and provided glass dining plates to Middle Eastern royalty.
His richly-adorned 36-centimetre plate was made of clear glass, studded with pure gold, platinum, sapphires, garnets, rhodolites and tsavorites.
The encasing box is etched with the royal cypher of King Charles, while inside the lid are engravings of the flowers of each Australian state and territory.
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