A GEORGE FOX (British w. mid/late 19th Century) VICTORIAN PERIOD STERLING SILVER AND GLASS PRESENTATION INKWELL, LONDON, ENGLAND, 1877-1878, of shaped rectangular form with banded and scrolled reticulated and beaded border with grotesque masks at the corners, mounted with two hinge lidded cylindrical ink pots and an open sand pot fitted with frosted glass liners and with matching reticulated border and masks, raised on four bun feet, engraved on the front and back of the plateau in scrolled cartouches "Fred Barnaby, FROM G.D.F.," stamped on the bottom (leopard's head), (lion passant), (duty mark), "GF," "C," total approximate silver weight: 18.275 troy ounces. Height: 3" Width: 10 5/8" Depth: 7 3/4" Provenance: The personal collection of Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, member of the Royal Horse Guards, a cavalry regiment of the British Army. NOTE: Frederick Gustavus Burnaby was born in Bedfordshire County in 1842. A man of towering stature and robust character, he joined the Royal Horse Guards in 1859. Captain Burnaby was a skilled swordsman and linguist which facilitated his travels throughout Europe, Asia and Africa during the middle of the 19th century. It was on these expeditions that he penned his two journals "A Ride to Khiva", 1875 and "On Horseback through Asia Minor", 1876. Burnaby subsequently served in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He returned to England and married Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed in 1879. His adventurous spirit carried him on a hot air balloon crossing of the English Channel in 1882, as a special foreign correspondent for The Times and as an intelligence officer during various North African military campaigns. Colonel Burnaby met his end in hand to hand combat during the Battle of Abu Klea, Egypt, in 1885. It is said that when informed of the Colonel's demise, Queen Victoria was so overcome that she fainted.

In overall fair to good condition with minor warping to the plateau, surface rubbing and scratching commensurate with age and use; one glass liner missing, both other liners with chips to the rim.

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