The inscription reads: Presented to the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone BY THE BRITISH INHABITANTS OF BOMBAY on his retirement from the Government OF THAT PRESIDENCY 1st November 1827

The arms are those of Elphinstone. Mountstuart Elphinstone, 4th son of the 11th Lord Elphinstone, born in 1779, served in the Indian Civil Service, was a district commissioner and Governor of Bombay. He died unmarried in 1859.

A venison dish and cover on plated stand by the same, also 1829, from the same service was sold in these Rooms, April 16, 1985, lot 256.