Contact Seller
Jason Clarke Antiques
Tel07815 046645Please quote Antiques Atlas.
Non UK callers :
+44 7815 046645
Victorian Campaign Ammunition Chemistry Set
A rare and possibly unique Victorian military ammunition chemistry set marked to The Royal Laboratory.
Contained in an extremely well made purpose built leather case with quality Hobbs of London brass lock and original key, the interior is fitted out in pine with circular cut outs for the placement of chemist bottles. The exterior is stamped RL with a broad arrow mark between the letters and with a date stamp to 1882.
The bottles are all devoid of their contents but the labels are stated as:
Ammonium Nitrate
Liquid Potassium Hydroxide
Ung. Resorcin Co.
Acid Hydrobromic Dil.
Tinct. Scillae
Cadmium Sulphide
Through consultation with some of the staff at the sadly now defunct Royal Artillery museum in Woolwich, it was confirmed that this case would have been used by staff from the Royal Laboratory in the field whilst carrying out experiments with ammunition and gunpowder mixes.
The date on the case associates it to the period of the Anglo-Egyptian war, a response from the French and British to a military coup attempt against the Khedive. Strong interest in the Suez canal and its access to the colonies being the main catalyst for British involvement and a war in which the Royal Artillery keenly participated.
The Royal Laboratory formed part of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich whose history dates back to the Board of Ordnance’s purchase of the Woolwich site called “The Warren” in the late seventeenth century. The Board of Ordnance was eventually comprised of four sectors, The Ordnance Store (a store for ammunition and weapons), The Royal Laboratory (an ammunition laboratory), The Royal Brass Foundry (a gun foundry) and The Carriage Works (manufacturers of gun carriages).
Set up for the experimentation of ammunition, the Laboratory was headed up in the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth century by the Congreve family responsible for the Congreve rocket, an early ballistic missile much disliked by the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsula Wars but the forefather of all that followed in term of missile technology. The late nineteenth century was dominated by Sir Frederick Abel famous for his invention of cordite and for being sued by Alfred Nobel for infringement of his patent for a similar “smokeless powder” substance called Ballistite. A case that was only finally resolved in Abel’s favour in 1895.
This piece is a rare survivor of the period when the British Army was transitioning from its “red coat” beginnings into the force that we see today. It is pre-Sudan and General Gordon, pre-Boer war and pre-Kitchener. A significant and somewhat obscure piece of military history that perfectly reflects the period of military experimentation.
SellerJason Clarke Antiques
View all stock from
Jason Clarke Antiques
Private dealer
By appointment only
Newbury
Berkshire
Tel : 07815 046645
Non UK callers : +44 7815 046645
Contained in an extremely well made purpose built leather case with quality Hobbs of London brass lock and original key, the interior is fitted out in pine with circular cut outs for the placement of chemist bottles. The exterior is stamped RL with a broad arrow mark between the letters and with a date stamp to 1882.
The bottles are all devoid of their contents but the labels are stated as:
Ammonium Nitrate
Liquid Potassium Hydroxide
Ung. Resorcin Co.
Acid Hydrobromic Dil.
Tinct. Scillae
Cadmium Sulphide
Through consultation with some of the staff at the sadly now defunct Royal Artillery museum in Woolwich, it was confirmed that this case would have been used by staff from the Royal Laboratory in the field whilst carrying out experiments with ammunition and gunpowder mixes.
The date on the case associates it to the period of the Anglo-Egyptian war, a response from the French and British to a military coup attempt against the Khedive. Strong interest in the Suez canal and its access to the colonies being the main catalyst for British involvement and a war in which the Royal Artillery keenly participated.
The Royal Laboratory formed part of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich whose history dates back to the Board of Ordnance’s purchase of the Woolwich site called “The Warren” in the late seventeenth century. The Board of Ordnance was eventually comprised of four sectors, The Ordnance Store (a store for ammunition and weapons), The Royal Laboratory (an ammunition laboratory), The Royal Brass Foundry (a gun foundry) and The Carriage Works (manufacturers of gun carriages).
Set up for the experimentation of ammunition, the Laboratory was headed up in the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth century by the Congreve family responsible for the Congreve rocket, an early ballistic missile much disliked by the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsula Wars but the forefather of all that followed in term of missile technology. The late nineteenth century was dominated by Sir Frederick Abel famous for his invention of cordite and for being sued by Alfred Nobel for infringement of his patent for a similar “smokeless powder” substance called Ballistite. A case that was only finally resolved in Abel’s favour in 1895.
This piece is a rare survivor of the period when the British Army was transitioning from its “red coat” beginnings into the force that we see today. It is pre-Sudan and General Gordon, pre-Boer war and pre-Kitchener. A significant and somewhat obscure piece of military history that perfectly reflects the period of military experimentation.
Price The price has been listed in British Pounds.
Conversion rates as of 7/NOV/2024. Euro & Dollar prices will vary and should only be used as a guide.
Always confirm final price with dealer. Sold
Date 1882
Late Victorian Antiques Material Leather
Origin English
Item code as542a169 / 344
Status Sold
£0 
$0.00 
€0.00 
$
€
Conversion rates as of 7/NOV/2024. Euro & Dollar prices will vary and should only be used as a guide.
Always confirm final price with dealer. Sold
View all stock from
Jason Clarke Antiques
Private dealerBy appointment only
Newbury
Berkshire
Tel : 07815 046645
Non UK callers : +44 7815 046645
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