Shield
Category
Arms and armour
Date
circa 1870 - circa 1879
Materials
Ox hide
Measurements
630 mm (Width); 1142 mm (Length)
Place of origin
South Africa
Order this imageCollection
Cotehele, Cornwall
NT 347363
Caption
The story of the shield being found next to the body of Prince Imperial may or may not be true, but the Imperial family were known to the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. The Emperor Napoleon and his son the Prince Imperial dined at Mount Edgcumbe in 1871, eight years before the Prince’s death. Those present included William, 4th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, his sister Lady Ernestine, and the Earl's son Piers, known as ‘Alec’. Lady Ernestine kept a journal, in which she wrote: “After lunch the Emperor again gave me his arm to leave the Diningroom and we went into the Gallery where we found Katie and little Alick: the latter made a nice little bow when he gave his hand to the Emperor, but got very red when the Emp. And P. Impl. both kissed him: he evidently thought it a great insult…. The Prince Imperial is a nice mannered boy, poor little fellow: short for his age and not particularly good looking, but not like his father: his English was bad, - the Emperor’s excellent.” ‘Little Alick’ was six years old at the time. He became 5th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in 1917. He loved Cotehele and its stories – the tale of the Zulu Shield would have been no exception.
Summary
An oxhide Zulu shield. Allegedly found beside the body of Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial, who died in the Zulu Wars on 1st June 1879.