7cm (2.7in) x 19.5cm (7.7in)
A Universal Pattern silver pouch flap adapted for use as a clothes brush, applied with the gilt crowned VR cypher of Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901). The pouch flap bearing the maker’s mark of Joseph Jennens & Co. Hallmarked Birmingham 1864.
Originally worn by cavalrymen as containers for carbine rifle ammunition, shoulder belt pouches assumed purely decorative usage in the mid nineteenth century. Late in the century the tradition of recycling the silver elements of an officer’s uniform, after retirement for domestic use, was developed with a number of prestigious silversmithing firms carrying out the bespoke work to order.