Length: 26cm (10.25in)
Of ‘Treasury’ type, so called because they were first made, pursuant to an 1686 order from the Lord Chamberlain, for the Treasury or the Privy Council. The rectangular body raised on lions’ paw feet, with central handle, with opposing hinged lids, one engraved the GVR cypher of King George V (reigned 1910-1936) and containing pen compartment, the other engraved with Royal arms and containing compartments for a glass inkwell, nib brush and pounce pot - pounce being a fine powder, most often made from powdered cuttlefish bone, that was used both to dry ink and to sprinkle on a rough writing surface to make it smooth enough for writing) - the interior of the nearside hinged lid inscribed ‘Presented to / The Right Honourable Lord Blanesborough, G.B.E. / by His Majesty’s Government / in recognition of the services as / Chairman of the Royal Commission / on Mining Subsidence / 1924-1927’. Maker’s mark of The Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company, 112 Regent Street. Hallmarked London 1918.
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Robert Younger, Baron Blanesburgh, G.B.E., P.C. (1861-1946) was a scion of the Scottish brewing families Youngers and McEwans. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and Balliol College, Oxford, he was called to the Bar in 1884; appointed a Q.C., 1900; Bencher of Lincoln's Inn, 1907; High Court Judge, Chancery Division, 1915-19; Privy Councillor, 1919; Lord Justice of Appeal, 1919; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, 1923; and Life Peer the same year.
