Princess Mary Boxes

At a meeting held in the Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly, London, on 14 October 1914, H.R.H. Princess Mary inaugurated a special fund to pay for the manufacture and distribution of her now

 well-known Christmas 1914 Gift Tin.

‘For many weeks we have all been greatly concerned for the welfare of the Sailors and Soldiers who are gallantly fighting our battles by sea and land. Our first consideration has been to meet their more pressing needs, and I have delayed making known a wish that has long been in my heart for fear of encroaching on other funds, the claims of which have been more urgent.

I want you all now to help me to send a Christmas present from the whole nation to every Sailor afloat and every Soldier at the front. On Christmas-eve when, like the shepherds of old, they keep their watch, doubtless their thoughts will turn to home and to the loved ones left behind, and perhaps, too, they will recall the days when as children themselves they were wont to hang out their stockings wondering what the morrow had in store.

I am sure that we should all be the happier to feel that we had helped to send our little token of love and sympathy on Christmas morning, something that would be useful and of permanent value, and the making of which may be the means of providing employment in trades adversely affected by the war. Could there be anything more likely to hearten them in their struggle than a present received straight from home on Christmas day?

Please, will you help me?’

The appeal letter from H.R.H. Princess Mary to the British Public, dated 15 October 1914, which led to the manufacture and distribution of her Christmas 1914 Gift Tin.

The General Committee established that day included the Prime Minister, Churchill, and Kitchener, together with a host of representatives from Parliament and the Commonwealth, a powerful body that ensured popular support, though famously many of the tins did not reach their intended recipients in time - indeed some of them were still being distributed as late as 1919, a delay compounded by the fact the issuance numbers were extended to all men and women in uniform on 25 December 1914, not just those at sea or at the front.

The brass embossed tin, designed by Messrs. Adshead & Ramsey, bore a bust of Princess Mary within a laurel wreath, with the legend ‘Imperium Britannicum’ flanked by a sword and scabbard above, ‘Christmas 1914’ below, and the monogram ‘M’ to the left and right. Around the edges of the lid were embossed the names of the Allied powers.

The contents differed according to the intended recipient - thus, instead of the usual pipe, tobacco and cigarettes, non-smokers received acid tablets, Indian troops spices or candy, and nurses chocolates. All contained a royal greetings card, and the majority the bullet pencil. 

The statistics arising from Princess Mary’s initiative make fascinating reading - with a closing account of nearly £200,000, the Fund was able to cover the costs of some 2,600,000 gift tins, the whole distributed by War Office, Admiralty, India Office, Colonial Office and the High Commissions of the Colonies. And in terms of contents, some 710,000 pipes were purchased, together with 44,000lbs. of tobacco and over 13 million cigarettes. But the number of tinder lighters that were purchased fell below par owing to the fact ceric stones from Austria were required in the manufacturing process - and the Austrians did not feel inclined to replenish the supplies when they ran out!

The quality of the latter boxes is markedly different in to the better quality earlier boxes.

Interestingly, next week on June 28th 2014 at Chalke Valley History Festival an un-opened and sealed box containing 81 of these boxes will be opened  by Lady Emma Kitchener, great-grandniece of military great Lord Kitchener. See this article in The Mail Online.

And also here:

http://www.cvhf.org.uk/blog/2014/06/lady-emma-kitchener-to-open-princess-mary-gift-boxes-untouched-for-nearly-100-years/

I have come across references to some boxes being made in silver and have had this confirmed by a dealer friend who narrowly missed out on buying one. Presumably these were presentation pieces or for high ranking officers. I will have to investigate.

By Simon Clarke.

The Ballantyne Coat of Arms

The Ballantyne Coat of Arms , Teak, Early 19th century.

There are lots of great stories relating to English titled families sending instructions to China  to have dinner services made for them and the amusing results when things are lost in translation. I guess this is where the the phrase "Chinese whispers" comes from. One I particularly like, is the one with arrows pointing to the armorial indicating what the colours should be. You can guess what happened. These little notes ended up being incorporated int the design.

This is the first time I have seen this happen on a piece of carving.

This fine piece would have been commissioned by a traveller to the East and at a glance all seems good. When you look closer you realise that the Gryphen should be facing the other way and one of the mullets ( armorial speak for stars) is missing. Also the first 2 letters of Tarde are missing. It being such an exact science this would have an armorialist spitting feathers.

What particularly tickled me though were the angels. Not only do they have the most wonderful Chinese faces and are adopting a pose no self respecting angel would dream of assuming on something as formal as an armorial but these two amply chested angels are definitely of the female persuasion rather than the more androgynous angels found in European art.


Simon Clarke.

Proof that Campaign Furniture still travels

Another happy customer unpacking his purchase.

Follow the link below to see Christopher Schwarz :

 Unpacking the Douro Chair

Proof that campaign furniture still travels well.

 Christopher Schwarz has also now produced and excellent book introducing campaign furniture to those wishing to produce there own travelling furniture and with the first English-language translation of A.J.-Roubo’s 18th-century text on campaign pieces, plus original drawings of dozens of pieces of British campaign furniture culled from original copies of the Army & Navy stores catalogues.

Campaign furniture book

Writing Table from Cunard's S.S Ascania.

The Art Deco design of this mahogany ship’s writing table epitomises the Golden Age of the great ocean  liners in the early 20th century. It has an ivorine plaque to the underside of the front rail that notes 'SS "Ascania" 1st Class Lounge Wm. Masons & Son Ltd., Leeds'. Research is on going and will be updated here as it progresses.

The quality of construction is as you would expect from a piece of furniture on board one of Cunard's ocean liners. Curly mahogany veneers on top of straight grain mahogany secondary timber, brass inkwells and stationery rack, and unusually a type of hard rubber composite to the stretchers that could easily be mistaken for solid ebony. Also note the nickel plated hooks to the back. The table is finished to the back and would have sat in the middle of the lounge but would be moved and hooked to the wall in heavy seas.

The main questions remaining are:
Who where the makers ? and who was the designer of this very stylish piece of furniture?
Both of which are proving difficult to find out information on.
The ship was initially fitted in 1925 and then re-fitted in 1927 to allow for an increase in passenger classes to three.

So far we have found little on the maker. William Mason's son Frederick  was apprenticed to his father and brother in 1888 and spent over a year making the precise woodwork needed by their neighbour Louis Le Prince for his pioneering work in cinematography. Many credit Le Prince with making the first motion picture. Mason’s premises at this time were at 150 Woodhouse Lane. They must have been a company of a reasonable size to have been commissioned by Cunard. Surprising little other information is out there.

Cunard must have used different manufacturers and one lead found was that Ragstraw of Worcester also made furniture for Cunard and their records illustrate an almost identical table made by the company in 1939 for use on board the Queen Elizabeth which was launched the previous year.This companies archive when through auction last year in Stroud and one can only hope that though sold in separate lots it was bought by one buyer. 

The table above from this archive is clearly a later version of our table showing that the raised section to the back has been removed and what appears to be a perpetual calender below where this would have been. Our table had holes here and would have had the same.
Unfortunately, the archive doesn't note the designer.

 Hopefully, with time further information will emerge.
 From the Titanic Research & Modelling Association Ralph Currell mentions : "The 'Shipping World' of 6 May 1925 says, "On the boat deck there is a lounge, fitted with comfortable furniture and writing tables, and occupying a position which affords an excellent view of the sea."
Also  from Norway-Heritage Hands across the Sea Jan Peter Wiborg posted a couple of other photos though sadly not showing the table.

Furnishing the Colonial Bungalow Glenfield 2008

As the year comes to a close I've been thinking about what the next year will bring but also looking back to the last year and reminiscing. This years Flying the Flag exhibition has probably been one of our best when I look at the stock we found for it. This got me thinking about probably the most interesting exhibition we have ever had. "Furnishing the Colonial Bungalow" in 2008  Glenfield , New South Wales. Australia.

What a great opportunity this was. With our good friends Dr James Broadbent and Warwick Oakman we were asked to put on an exhibition to help promote the wonderful new project  the Endangered Houses Fund, the then Historical Houses ( now Sydney Living Museums) had instigated. To restore and save an important colonial bungalow which could then be sold allowing money to be moved on to another similar project.

Glenfield, was built  by the explorer Dr Charles Throsby on land given to him by Governor Macquarie. He had been a naval surgeon, explorer, magistrate and politician, and completed Glenfield around 1817, making it one of Australia's earliest surviving houses. He named it after the English village in Leicester where he was born.

Rarely, does one have the opportunity to have such a blank canvas to work with in a great location with an historical background.

Between us we found some wonderful antiques to furnish the bungalow and had a great response from the public with nearly 2000 people visiting during the week from Sydney , Melbourne and even Tasmania.  A great achievement considering the rather off the beaten track of Glenfield's location in  Casula.

Dr Broadbent wrote an excellent article to accompany the exhibition "Furnishing the Colonial Bungalow " and we had a write up in Vogue Living. Writing this now makes me think it is definitely time to start planning our 5th trip Down Under.

What is a Cordite Bucket?

 Having finished restoring our cordite bucket I am sure some people are saying. " Great, it looks good but what is it? ". We have sold a few over the years and as we will need to research it for its description in our forthcoming catalogue I thought this might be a good place to to expand on that.

    The first thing to know is it is not a bucket made of cordite but a bucket made to carry cordite. They are also referred to as Clarkson cases. From the Naval weapons website a definition  "British propellant charge container.  These were flash proof containers for bag charges (cartridges).  Charges were placed into these containers before they left the magazines.  The Clarkson's Cases then rode up the hoists to the guns where the charges were removed only when it was time to load them into the breech.  The Clarkson's Cases were reusable and were returned to the magazines for reloading."

 Which leads on to the first question. What is cordite? This entry from wikipedia is a good start.
" Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance. These produce a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives. The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a bullet or shell to its target, but not so quickly as to routinely destroy the barrel of the firearm, or gun. Cordite was used initially in the .303 British, Mark I and II, standard rifle cartridge between 1891 and 1915; shortages of cordite in World War I led to United States–developed smokeless powders being imported into the UK for use in rifle cartridges. Cordite was also used for large weapons, such as tank guns, artillery and naval guns. It has been used mainly for this purpose since the late 19th century by the UK and British Commonwealth countries." So the name comes from it being constructed in "cords". This photo shows what the cordite looks like.

 That probably helps explain the construction of the buckets. Its use dictates its construction. The body is made out of cork covered on the inside in canvas and the outside in leather. The handles and straps which are sewn are fixed to the body using copper rivets. So why these materials ? Basically they are "fit for purpose."
Cork is naturally fire resistant which is well suited to the safety angle of what is being contained and its light weight will be a bonus in making it easier to move around.
The leather is use to cover the cork as the hide can be wet , stretched and glued on meaning it will shrink on drying giving a tidy, tight finish. We have seen others which have painted canvas on the out side either have lost their leather and have been painted or possibly could be a different type.

 The canvas is purely used on the inside to seal the cork and on the outside to do this but also to provide a good surface to glue the leather on to.
Copper rivets and the plate supporting the handle on the inside provide a strong fitting and are used because the metal will not give a potentially lethal spark. The cordite cases would be used to transport the charge from the magazine to the guns.

So what do the marking's mean. Lets look at this example:




 Firstly the "broad arrow" mark. This was used to show they were the property of the Board of Ordnance or Government department. This link gives some more history on the mark. If you see  2 broad arrow marks facing each other this is a sign that the case was decommissioned. N for Navy. B.H.&G. Ltd shows it was made by Barrow, Hepburn & Gale of Bermondsey, London. No 72  could be a size number and the I its mark. See diagram below. Possibly, all the cordite buckets were numbered and may even have corresponded with a specific gun?  Hopefully, some information will come to light and I can update this blog. Some will be stamped 'RCD' for Royal Chatham Dockyard. This book the Handbook of Ammunition from 1945 gives alot of answers and has this image showing cordite buckets.

The BL refers to breech loading guns. As you would expect no signs of a stenciled armorial which I am sure were added later when they were decommissioned and sold off as umbrella stands and waste paper bins. Some of the taller  ones we have seen reduced in height to do this. Some examples with stencils:

 The below example shows a cordite bucket that appears to have been reduced in height with  the base re-attached and an armorial added.

By Simon Clarke



References
Tony DiGiulian "Ammunition , Fuzes, Projectiles and Propellants" www.navweaps.com
BR932 Handbook on Ammunition 1945.
British Ordnance Collectors Network  http://www.bocn.co.uk
Christies
1stDibs.
www.campaignfurniture.com

Great Places to visit near Stow on the Wold II Lodge Park

Like Chastleton, Lodge Park is another National Trust property I have been meaning to visit for years. It is just down the road past Burford and the other side of the A40.I have driven past it but had never had the chance to look inside. What a treat it is.

It was built in the 1630's as a place to party by John 'Crump' Dutton who owned the Sherborne Estate a couple of miles down the road. You've got to admire a guy who has a huge house but the wants another place just for entertaining his friends. Going into the house you certainly sense an ambiance of the place that has seen alot of fun. The building is basically a very grand grandstand at the finishing post of a mile long walled enclosure for the chase. This was a time when fortunes were won and lost through gambling. Deer were chased along this course by hounds whom the participants bet upon. Unless the stakes reached a certain amount the deer had an escape route at the end.

There are some good  pieces of furniture to see and some lovely pictures. In the entrance hall are a pair of William Kent tables. Sadly, stripped of the original gilding and missing their marble tops but still very impressive.

The main room is upstairs and has a balcony overlooking the "finishing post". What a room! Interesting pictures and amongst the furniture two great trunks. The leather on them looks to be Russian reindeer hide similar to some still being taken off the Metta Catharina which we have used in the past for re-upholstery. The chased metalwork on them is as good as you will see and I believe they were gifts from Charles I.

I won't spoil your visit by going through all the other treasures so do try and visit the house if you are in the area. You can also go to Burford which is very close. Charming town and great church and also Sherborne. The house is now flats and not open though there is a lovely walk beside it through the woods with fun bits to amuse the children if you have any with you.

Hope you enjoy it . Well worth the gamble.

By Simon Clarke.