Victorian Silver Gilt Vesta Case, 15th The King's Hussars

Victorian Silver Gilt Vesta Case, 15th The King's Hussars.

A fine quality Victorian silver gilt trick opening Vesta Case of rounded rectangular form with attached suspension ring, the face enamelled in royal blue with the badge of the 15th The King's Hussars, the reverse similarly enamelled with the owners crest and initials. The silver gilt interior engraved with dated presentation inscription. The concealed hinged lid opens with downward pressure to one side.

By Wright & Davies, London, 1867.

Also stamped with the retailer's mark of Leuchars, Piccaddily, London.

The 15th The King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. First raised in 1759, it saw service over two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 19th Royal Hussars into the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars in 1922.

Vesta cases, which also go by the name of vesta boxes, matchsafes and pocket matchsafes, were used to stores vestas (short matches) and to keep them dry so that they were able to light when struck. They were first made in the 1830s, with their heyday being between 1890 and 1920, when everyone kept a vesta box to hand, though while the poor had boxes made from tin, the vesta boxes of the wealthy were made from gold and silver. Most vesta boxes had a ribbed surface on the bottom so that the owner could also strike the matches kept inside, while some also include cigar cutters and small knife blades. Steppes Hill Farm Antiques stocks a variety of antique silver vesta cases from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, specialising in enamel, novelty and engraved designs.

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This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

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