Overall: 9cm (3.5in) x 8.5cm (3.4in)
Provenance: Flying Officer C.V. Wheatley RAF, Pilot to the King of the Belgians, India 1925.
Silver. Of rounded rectangular form striped decoration, the hinged lid applied with the crowned conjoined ‘A’ and ‘E’ cyphers of Albert I, King of the Belgians, and Queen Elisabeth. Gilt interior with retailer’s mark of Altenloh-Bruxelles and hallmarked .900. Contained in its original gilt tooled morocco Cartier presentation case of E et R Altenl / Joalliers - Offevres / Palais Royale / Bruxelles’.
In November 1925, King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth visited India to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. The visit was a gift from King Albert in appreciation of his wife’s fascination with Indian culture. The couple were well received and lavishly entertained.
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King Albert I of the Belgians (1875-1934) was socially progressive and succeeded his exploitative uncle Leopold II in 1909. His first act as king was to oversee the transfer of the Belgian Congo from the personal fiefdom of Leopold to the Belgian state. He and his wife, Queen Elisabeth, were popular for their unassuming lifestyle and harmonious family life, which stood in marked contrast to the aloof manner and irregular private life of Leopold. Connected through his mother and wife to German royalty, Albert’s loyalties were sharply divided in 1914 when the Kaiser’s army overran his Belgium and occupied ninety percent of the country. Albert himself took to the field, holding the last strip of Belgian soil behind the River Yser for four years whilst the Queen worked as a nurse. In late September 1918 he launched the final offensive by which the Belgian Army re-took the crest of Flanders, the Forest of Houthulst and Dixmude, and captured 6,000 prisoners and 250 guns. Post-war Albert devoted himself wholeheartedly to the reconstruction of Belgium. He was a committed conservationist and in 1925 founded Africa's first national park. He was also the first European monarch to visit the United States. King Albert I died in 1934 in a mountaineering accident while climbing alone in the Ardennes region. His death shocked the world and he was deeply mourned.