Accession Number

998.034.005

Description

A British cavalry officer's sabretache, the flat case a shield shape, the front of red felt with embroidered metallic-thread Royal cypher and campaign insignias, this assemblage attached to a stiff leather backing edged with metallic ribbon, backed with leather and stiffened with cardboard, on the front top centre an ornate crown in relief, and under it are strips of intertwined metallic ribbons and the names of the regiment's military campaigns in gold thread on a blue background, 4H in the centre in gold thread, three gold-threaded straps attached to the top for hanging from the officer's waist.

Narrative

Sabretaches were used by officers to carry important documents. This one was used by Lt. Robert Dunsmuir Harvey and is depicted in a watercolour and gouache portrait of him painted in India shortly before his death (see 2011.005.002b).  

The military campaigns that regiments engaged in were typically listed on sabretaches. The officer owner/user of a particular sabretache did not have to personally be present at each campaign in order to display his regiment's battle honours on his sabretache.

History of Use

This sabretache was used by Lt. Robert Dunsmmuir Harvey (1878-1901) while he served in the 4th (Queen’s Own) Hussars regiment in India. Following his death in 1901, his regiment sent the sabretache and other personal effects to his sister Elizabeth Georgina Harvey and his grandmother Joan Olive Dunsmuir at Craigdarroch. Sometime later, the sabretache and other effects came into possession of R.D. Harvey's brother, Col. James Swan Harvey, who kept them at his residence on Knapp Island, B.C. The sabretache and other items were next inherited by J.S. Harvey's son, Robert Oliver Dunsmuir Harvey of Victoria, B.C., and then by his son, the late Robert James Harvey who lived in Victoria, Nanaimo, and before his death in 2013, on Denman Island, B.C.

Date

circa 1899

Dimensions

31.7 cm x 0.5 cm x 26.8 cm

Material

Leather; Fabric, felt; Thread, metal

Technique

Embroidered; Sewn

Inscription

VR ; 4H; Dettingen ; Talavera ; Albuera ; Salamanca ; Vittoria ; Toulouse ; Peninsula ; Afghanistan ; Ghuznee ; Alma ; Balaklava ; Inkerman ; Sevastopol

Country of Origin

United Kingdom