PRESS RELEASE : Archbishop’s gift to Queen Elizabeth I at risk of leaving the UK

The press release issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 2 September 2022.

A temporary export bar has been placed on a manuscript gifted to Queen Elizabeth I by Archbishop Matthew Parker.

• Export bar is to allow time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire the manuscript
• The manuscript was part of a gift from the Archbishop and was intended to impress the Queen

A manuscript which formed part of a gift from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker to Elizabeth I is at risk of leaving the country unless a buyer can be found.

The historically rich manuscript is made up of nine roundels and forms a fragment of a gift to Queen Elizabeth I in the early 1550s. The roundels were likely folded and integrated into a now-lost gold salt cellar.

The use of shell gold around the miniatures suggests that the manuscript was gifted with the intention of impressing the Queen.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said:

“Archbishop Parker is a figure of great historical and theological consequence, and this beautiful manuscript is a significant example of Elizabethan gift exchange. I hope a buyer comes forward for this piece so it can be used to learn more about both the Archbishop and Queen Elizabeth I.”

The Minister’s decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest. The Committee agreed that the manuscript had enormous research value, specifically regarding Archbishop Matthew Parker’s relationship to Queen Elizabeth I and material gift culture. The literary allusions on the roundels further suggested Matthew Parker’s engagement with classical humanist culture that was not typically associated with the clergy and would lead to illuminating further study.

Committee Member Peter Barber said:

“These evocative, obscurely-worded and miraculously preserved roundels take us back to power politics and culture at the heart of Elizabeth I’s court. They are a tangible record of a vital and dangerous moment in our religious and political history when the delicately-crafted Anglican Settlement seemed to be in danger, but their wording still has to be fully interpreted and understood.

While Tudor gift lists and sometimes the gifts themselves survive, such intrinsic – but cryptic – evidence for the mentality behind the gift -giving is perhaps unique. I fervently hope the roundels will remain in this country where outstanding collections and libraries – not least that of Archbishop Parker himself – would enable their plentiful remaining mysteries to be investigated and explained with a thoroughness that would simply not be possible elsewhere in the world.”

The Committee made its recommendation on the grounds that the departure of the manuscript from the UK would be a misfortune owing to its outstanding significance to the study of Matthew Parker and gift-giving culture in the Elizabethan period.

The decision on the export licence application for the manuscript will be deferred for a period ending on 1 December 2022. At the end of the first deferral period owners will have a consideration period of 15 business days to consider any offer(s) to purchase the manuscript at the recommended price of £9,450 (plus VAT of £390 which can be reclaimed by an eligible institution).

The second deferral period will commence following the signing of an option agreement and will last for three months. Offers from public bodies for less than the recommended price through the private treaty sale arrangements, where appropriate, may also be considered by the minister. Such purchases frequently offer substantial financial benefit to a public institution wishing to acquire the item.