3-028-597 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Jug presented to the 4th (Kings Own) Regiment, 1870. 'The officers' mess-table of the first battalion of the 4th Royal Regiment, which performed such a brilliant part in the Abyssinian campaign of 1868, has lately received a most fitting ornament in the shape of a glass claret-jug...designed by Mr. Wood for the manufacturers, Messrs. Pellatt and Co...[It] is flat-sided, and it holds a quantity equal to the wine of four bottles...on the reverse are eight views of Abyssinian scenery and incidents of the campaign, selected and copied from those which were engraved for the Illustrated London News, from the sketches by the Special Artists of this Journal who accompanied the British army to Magdala...The central compartment shows the destruction of Magdala...In the spaces between these circular compartments are the rose, thistle, and shamrock, and in the neck is another intaglio medallion of Britannia. Between the two sides are engraved representations of the trophies brought home from Abyssinia - the crown of Theodore, seals, processional cross, spears, drums, and swords...This choice work of art has been honoured by the inspection of the King of the Belgians, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, and many other connoisseurs'. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.