Skip to main content

Mary Queen of Scots, Escaping from Lochleven Castle: M.120-2015

An image of Folding fan
View image details Mirador icon - view image Mirador deep zoom IIIF Manifest IIIF Manifest Slow looking

Terms of use

The low-resolution images published on this Website are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY-NC-ND). For more details: Fitzwilliam Terms of Use

This licence does not include any images of works that are still in copyright. Artistic copyright extends from the life of the artist to 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the artist died.

Download this image

For further information on use of images or to license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who can discuss terms and fees.

Alternative views

An image of Folding fan
An image of Folding fan
An image of Folding fan
An image of Folding fan
An image of Folding fan
View all 6 images attached
Current Location: Gallery 34 (Fan Gallery)

Titles

Mary Queen of Scots, Escaping from Lochleven Castle

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Folding fan, depicting the escape of Mary Queen of Scots from Lochleven Castle.
Pale blue silk leaf, with a stipple printed in colour on fretted bone sticks.

Notes

History note: Lennox Boyd Estate. Christie's no. 245

Legal notes

Accepted by H. M. Government in lieu of inheritance tax from the Lennox Boyd Estate

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Allocated (2015-04-27) by H.M. Government

Dating

19th Century
Production date: circa AD 1810

Note

This badly damaged fan portrays the legendary escape of Mary Queen of Scots from Lochleven Castle, near Kinross, Scotland, in 1568. Schiller’s 1800 play, 'Mary Stuart', led to a renewed interest in the life of Mary Queen of Scots. Silk threads are particularly prone to light deterioration. Exposure to light, together with repeated folding and unfolding, has led to weakening of the material over time resulting in extensive tears along the folds.

This fan forms part of the collection of the Hon. Christopher Lennox Boyd, allocated to the Museum by H.M. Government in lieu of inheritance tax in 2015. The collection of over 600 fans ranges in date from the 18th to the 20th centuries and in type from bejewelled and hand-painted court and wedding fans, to printed mass-produced advertising fans, aide-memoire fans, mourning fans and children’s fans.

Components of the work

Leaf composed of silk
Sticks composed of bone

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.120-2015
Primary reference Number: 204684
Sale number: 245

Audit data

Created: Thursday 23 July 2015 Updated: Monday 4 August 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Mary Queen of Scots, Escaping from Lochleven Castle" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/204684 Accessed: 2025-12-06 00:47:42

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/204684 |title=Mary Queen of Scots, Escaping from Lochleven Castle |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-06 00:47:42|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-204684

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/655/480/large_M_120_2015_1_201811_mfj22_dc1.jpg"
        alt="Mary Queen of Scots, Escaping from Lochleven Castle"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Mary Queen of Scots, Escaping from Lochleven Castle</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...

University of Cambridge Museums logo
Cambridge City Council logo
Arts Council England Logo
Research England logo