Our latest "An Officers Room." comes from the name of the satirical print below:
The vast majority of the items illustrated in the Officer’s Room print on the cover of the exhibition’s catalogue are for the young soldier’s leisure as opposed to aiding them in the art of war. The perception of the officers is that their life is one long round of fun. Of course, we know that this was far from the reality. However, there is some truth that, if their wallet would allow, many officers would kit themselves out very well indeed. We have produced 23 exhibitions and catalogues illustrating the huge variety of items that were available to the military and travellers. This one is no different and has items from as small as a tiny pair of folding binoculars to a 9 foot folding refectory table. A number of known makers are represented as well as Peter McCarthy and Gilham, whom we have not shown before. Other items include a good pair of faux rosewood chairs and a patent iron chair by Ross with its original packing case, 6 different campaign chests, various named dispatch boxes. travel candlesticks and a variety of cooking canteens and spirit heaters. The first 2 are rare 19th century canteens, one belonging to a hero of Inkermann, the other 4 show the progression of portable cooking equipment from the battlefield to the picnic for 2 in a classic car. We are also lucky enough to have a number of mint condition Princess Mary Boxes. They were part of a box of 72 that were never issued and so remained unopened for almost 100 years. This is just a small hint at the 90 items that can be viewed in the catalogue PDF, on these website pages and of course in person at our showrooms in Stow on the Wold.
This link will take you to a pdf of the catalogue and the items are also on the stock pages of our website.
You can also get a feel for the exhibition with this short video. "An Officers Room."
By Simon Clarke.
