Lot 44
44
A Group of Civil Uniform
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A Group of Civil Uniform

Details
A Group of Civil Uniform
A tin trunk, the lid bearing a plaque inscribed The Right Honourable Sir Ernest Cassel PC, KCMG, containing items of Civil uniform as follows: a Full Dress coatee of 1st Class or Privy Counsellor's pattern with unusually rich and massive gold embroidery on fronts, collar, cuffs, skirts and pocket-flaps, the right shoulder fitted with a loop of narrow gold twist for retaining a riband; a Levée Dress coatee, with label inside inscribed Sir Ernest Cassel 1909, the depth of the cuffs indicating the 1st Class; a sleeveless cloak by Henry Poole, the tailor's label inscribed in manuscript Sir Ernest Cassel 1902, with black velvet collar, five gilt mounted buttons in front, scarlet lining and integral cape; a bicorne hat of the 1st Class with triple bullion loop and white ostrich-feather border; an extremely rare Undress cap of military pillbox style, with blue cloth peak, black oakleaf lace band edged with gold piping and Russia braid figure on top of crown; and sundry minor items (lot)

See colour illustration of major items on Page 21 and Undress cap on Page 17
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Sir Ernest Cassel, to whom this uniform belonged, was born of German parents in Cologne in 1852. He left school at 14 to become a clerk and later emigrated to England, where he took British citizenship in 1880 and in the next twenty years amassed an immense fortune in the City. He became a close personal friend of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), taking charge of all his investments in 1897 and becoming a Privy Counsellor shortly after his accession. In 1908 Cassel, somewhat to the displeasure of the King, obtained the GCB as a condition of assisting the State Bank of Morocco at the request of Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary.

Cassel's only child was a daughter, Maud, who married a Colonel Ashley. Their daughter Edwina married Lord Mountbatten.