Height: 9cm (3.4in)
Silver. Modelled and designed by Garrard’s chief designer Alex George Styles in collaboration with Sir Winston Churchill’s nephew John Spencer-Churchill to commemorate the centenary of Churchill’s birth in 1974. Hallmarked London 1974.
John George Spencer-Churchill (1909-1992) was the son of Sir Winston’s brother Major Jack Churchill, and grandson of Lord Randolph Churchill. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Oxford. After briefly working on the London Stock Exchange, he studied at the Royal College of Art, the Central School of Arts and Crafts, the Westminster School of Art and the Ruskin School of Drawing. He also received private tuition from several artists including Sir William Nicholson and the Ukrainian painter Bernard Meninsky. He was in Spain during the Civil War (1936-39) and produced work for the Illustrated London News. His first private commission was a mural for Lady Islington, followed by one to decorate the Victor Jubilee Palace, West Bengal for the Maharanee of Cooch Behar. Many others followed, for or featuring Spencer-Churchill’s many society friends. He served in the Second World War as a Camouflage Officer, and after returning from Dunkirk, told his uncle personally of the need for small boats to assist in rescuing troops from the beaches. After the war he founded the interior-decorating business George Spencer.