39cm (15in) x 19cm (7.5in) x 16.5cm (6.5in)
Black leather over wood, with swing handle to the hinged lid embossed with owners name ’S. WYNNE FINCH / ROYAL HORSE GUARDS’. The compartmentalised interior applied with the maker’s label of Hill & Millard / Duncannon Street / Trafalgar Square’.
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Major John Seymour Wynne Finch (1845-1906) transferred into the Royal Horse Guards in 1875 and served as a member of Special Embassies to Foreign Courts in 1878, 1881 and 1901. He was educated at Radley and Sandhurst, and was first commissioned as an Ensign in the 53rd Regiment, before purchasing a commission in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in 1864. He served as aide-de-camp to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. After retiring from the Army in 1885 he was known as a famous bon vivant and stalwart member of the Royal Yacht Squadron for many years. He died unmarried in London. A memorial to his memory is in Holy Trinity Church at Cowes, IoW.
John Seymour Wynne-Finch as Cosmo, Grand Duke of Tuscany for the Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball (1897)