DECORATIVE LACQUER TRAY - KINGMAKER

"A man's a man", wrote George Elliot, "But when you see a king, You see the work of a thousand men".

Praetorian Guard, Consigliere, Chef de Cabinet—history gives many names to those who eschew power’s limelight for the soft glow of influence. While not candidates for the throne themselves, kingmakers know best how palace games are played, their sway and might over the body politic deciding where the chips may fall.

It takes a special, quiet kind of confidence to take one’s pride in another’s triumph. It takes a singular, lofty wisdom to wield the keys to power while others bear the weight of orb and sceptre.

A kingmaker’s prophecies act through dimensions unknown. Locksmiths of a sort, they rotate the inner workings of clout in just the right time and just the right order to open doors of opportunity and lidded coffers of incentive.

Master craftsmen, they hold their secrets close, leaving no detail to chance. So beware, for security is their stock in trade. And power’s nature has them equally at ease in glory’s gilded halls as among the skeletons in the closet.

For you see, the kingmaker, in the master’s shadow, is Master too.