Trumpet

Silver trumpet; bell chased with a rococo cartouche flanked by military trophies (flags, drums, trumpets) and a band of flowers and scrolling foliage; ball similarly chased with laurel wreaths on the outer sections; with spirally fluted tubing. This trumpet is one of sixteen state trumpets. Seven bear inscriptions indicating their original use by the 1st Regiment Life Guards, while the remaining nine were made for the Royal Household, of which six bear the name of the trumpeter to whom they were first issued. This trumpet was issued to a Mr Harding. Although most bear the marks of different silversmiths, they are also engraved with the names of instrument makers, either of William Shaw (c.1754 – c.1823) of Wardour Street, Soho and later Red Lion Street, Holborn; William in partnership with his son Thomas (b.1775); or of Thomas Shaw & Co. These trumpets have not been used since the disbanding of the Corps of State Trumpeters by the Duke of Wellington as an economy measure in the mid-nineteenth century.