Sebastopol Dressing Case

A mahogany Dressing Case by Dalton of Regent Street.

The box has gilt brass strap work and corners with a flush campaign handle to the top and retains its key.

The interior has a lift out tray with a leather pad to take tools acting as a lid to a divided compartment that was once lined with silver paper. The tray has further dividers to house razors, a shaving brush and pots. To the side of the tray are two compartments to take pots either side of the third middle compartment with a leather covered lid. Below the tray are further dividers to take various brushes etc. There is a hinged velvet board to the lid which has an envelope to the back of it containing a blotting book. The board holds in a mirror with hinged foot to stand.

The contents of the box include a mixture of original and replaced items. Two silver topped jars are hallmarked for George Unite Birmingham 1855 and London 1857 respectively. Another jar has a silver plate top and is probably a replacement. There are a mix of tweezers, scissors, a razor and bone and wooden handled brushes. Added to this are spaces where other jars etc would have been kept.

To the centre of the tray, the box has a glass jar with silver top engraved 'B.H.H. to C.H. Sebastopol December 28th 1855'. It might be assumed that the initials are those of soldiers present at the siege and the box was a gift from one to the offer. We have found two officers whose regiments fought at Sebastopol with the initials of B.H.H.: Lieutenant Bache Harpur Heathcote of the 48th Regiment and Bryan Holme Holme of the 88th Connaught Rangers. There are a number of officers with the initials C.H. who fought in the Crimea but we cannot link any by regiment or otherwise to the two officers above. The date of the 28th December 1855 is also a curiosity. It suggests a specific event but the Allied armies had taken Sebastopol more than 3 months before with the siege ending on the 11th of September. Whether the date was simply a birthday or was linked to an event that united the two, we do not know.

Dalton's logo of a crown above a shield containing his name and address of 85 Regent Street is stamped in gilt to the back of the lid interior board.

The engraving linking the owner to a brutal siege in the Crimean War adds interest to this Dressing Case. Dated 1855.