8.5cm (3.25in) x 19cm (7.5in) x 7.5cm (3in)
Silver flap by applied with the pouch badge of the 2nd Dragoon Guards and title motto ‘Pro Rege et Patria’ (For King and Country) under the King’s crown, all in gilt, adapted, as the hinged lid of a cedar lined table top table cigarette box. The pouch flap bearing the maker’s mark of Bent & Parker, Military Ornament Makers, Northwood Street, Birmingham (fl. 1863-1909). The lower section bearing the maker’s mark of the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths,112 Regent Street, London W1 and hallmarked London 1938.
Originally worn by cavalrymen as containers for carbine rifle ammunition, shoulder belt pouches assumed purely decorative usage in the mid 19th century. Late in the century the tradition of recycling the silver elements of an officer’s uniform for domestic use was developed with a number of prestigious silversmithing firms carrying out the bespoke work to order.