Length: 33cm (13in) x 108cm (42.5in)
Provenance: Carr-Gomm family.
Two Gold Staff Officer brassards, the 1911 example embroidered with the Orb, crossed Sovereign’s Sceptre and the Sword of State, surmounted by the Imperial State Crown of King George V (1865-1936); the 1937 example similarly decorated in silk thread; three
polychromed wood batons, the first bearing the cypher of George V (1865-1936) over the crossed Sovereign’s Sceptre and The Sword of State, the second applied with a gilt metal GRI ‘Georgius Rex Imperator’ cypher encircled by the Garter, and the third bearing the cypher of George VI. Contained in a period oval glazed frame.
The brassards and batons of the present types were issued to the former naval and military officers known as Gold Staff Officers who were selected by the Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, the Duke of Norfolk, to oversee the seating of large numbers of guests at the in Westminster Abbey on coronation days. A contemporary newspaper reported that in the case of George V’s coronation, the Duke was ‘bombarded’ with offers from former officers to serve. Approximately a hundred were selected.
In 1935, officers were similarly selected to assist in George V’s Silver Jubilee celebrations which culminated in a service of Thanksgiving held in St Paul’s Cathedral on 6 May. The day was one of national celebration and the service was conducted before a congregation of 5,000 and broadcast across the Empire. The 1937 Coronation Gold Staff Officers numbered 300 in all. They were rehearsed in their ushering duties for two days under the General-in-Charge, Major-General Sir Eric Girdwood. The Gold Staffs were divided into groups and sub-divided into sections, each its own commander who were mostly Colonels or Generals. Each section comprised 9 to 12 Gold Staffs with a block seats allotted to them.