Silver, English (London), 1792-3; maker's mark the initials 'I.R.', unidentified

Silver-gilt, chased and embossed with the arms of George Annesley and his wife Anne. Convex, oval badge with wreath border, the back set with four hooks.

Arms of Annesley, crest a 'moor's head' wreathed about the temples; supporters: a Roman soldier and a 'Moorish' archer. Motto: 'Virtus amore'.

Lt. Col. G. B. Croft-Lyons Bequest

Bequest - Croft Lyon
Acquisition RF: Croft Lyon

George Annesley- the son of Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Mountnorris and Hon. Lucy Lyttelton. He was born on the 4th of December 1770. ]He was baptised on the 22nd of Jan 1771 in Upper Arley, Worcester, England. He married Hon. Anne Courtenay, daughter of Frances Clack and William Courtenay, 2nd Viscount Courtenay of Powderham Castle on 3rd of September 1790. He died on the 23rd of July 1844 at the age of 73, without surviving male issue at Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. He was member of Parliament for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight between 1808 and 1810.

The donor of this box Lt-Col George Babington Croft Lyons George Babington Croft Lyons was an antiquary and collector who loaned, and later bequeathed, 978 objects (ceramics, sculpture, metalwork (particularly silver and pewter), textiles and woodwork) and 391 photographic negatives to the Museum. George Babington Croft Lyons was born on 15 September 1855. Nothing is known of his early life. On 23 May 1874 he was promoted to Lieutenant with the Essex Rifles. He was admitted Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London, on 7 January 1904 and served on its Executive Council from 1908 to 1926; he was a Vice-President from 1917 to 1921. Croft Lyons was also actively involved with the Burlington Fine Arts Club, publishing a number of articles in the Burlington Magazine. Like his friend, George Salting, when Croft Lyons’s collection outgrew his house in Neville Street, Kensington, he loaned works for exhibition at the South Kensington Museum; these included ceramics, sculpture, metalwork (particularly silver and pewter), textiles and woodwork. Croft Lyons died in London on 22 June 1926, aged 71. He bequeathed to the Museum all the objects currently exhibited on loan (these amounted to 978 objects and 391 photographic negatives) together with ‘ten other objects to be selected from the works of art remaining in his house so far as these are not already disposed of by specific bequests’. The British Museum, National Gallery and Birmingham Art Gallery were also beneficiaries of Croft Lyons’ bequest.

This silver arm badge is embossed with the coat of arms of George Annesley, the heir of Earl Mountmorris (created 1793) and Anne Courtenay, his wife. Anne was the daughter of William, viscount Courtenay. Silver arm badges were worn by members of the military, by Thames watermen, by members of private fire services and were given as prizes in river races and regattas.
George and Anne's marriage was not a happy one - according to the Morning Chronicle in May 1796 he obtained £2,000 damages from John Bellenden Gawler for criminal conversation (adultery) with his wife. Gawler had aggravated his offence by threatening, if Annesley sought legal redress, to charge him with a crime ‘as false as it was horrid, and thus drive him from human society’.

M.749-1926