Edwardian Irish Silver Plate Mounted Horse Hoof by Rowland Ward

A rare letter signed by Winston Churchill dated March 1950. The letter reads: “Thank you so much for your message of goodwill at this anxious time for our country.” This letter i...

A rare and important late 19th century Victorian era metal mounted horse hoof match holder by Rowland Ward. Museum quality example, this most unusual curiosity having a gilt brass hinged lid opening to striker and open receptacle. Signed "Roland Ward...

The badger is an omnivorous mammal with short legs for digging. He has an elongated, weasel-like head with small ears. This specimen is a European badger or Meles meles and is bigger than his American counterparts. The female badger in the showcase has a deviation in its pigmentation, which the light spots on its coat can notice. Such an animal with partial loss of pigmentation is called leucistic. Unlike people with albinism who have no pigmentation, leucistic badgers don't have red eyes but black ones. The taxidermist who handled the animal was James Rowland Ward (London, 1848-1912). He learned the trade from his father and opened his own company, "Rowland Ward Limited" in London. He mainly made a name for himself with his taxidermy birds and large animal trophies...

A taxidermy case with Raggiana’s bird of paradise (Paradiseae raggiana) with trade label to the underside reading ‘The Jungle, Rowland Ward’ London, circa 1900-1910 With a collector’s label, centre bottom reading: No. 153, Bird of Paradise (Paradise Raggiana). The Peter Farrington...

A Victorian display case with taxidermy turaco birds, labelled for and by George F. Butt for Rowland Ward Late 19th-early 20th century The...

These interesting inkwells were crafted in Britain between the Victorian period and early to mid-20th century. The works have been created from horse hooves, applied with sterling silver mounts. Each hoof has been set onto a silver horseshoe and features a silver top and lid. Two of the tops have been engraved to imitate real horse hair, while the third is more simple, with banded ornament. All three have been given covers, two of which feature commemorative inscriptions. One lid states, ‘The Grey/1907-1917’ — presumably the name of the favourite racehorse, whose hoof this is — and another reads, ‘Mavourneen/ Died June 29th / Aged 53’. ‘Mavourneen’ is an Irish Gaelic word meaning ‘my beloved’. The dedicatee’s age of 53 implies that they were a human, perhaps a jokey, or racehorse owner. The lids open up onto a silver-lined interior, intended to be used for storing ink as part of a desk arrangement. The inkwells are stamped, on their underside, with silver hallmarks and maker’s marks, ‘J.T.’ and ‘C & CS’. This set of three horse hoof inkwells...

Paper trade label present to the back of case.