Trench Watch, Authentic Strap and Rare Lath Shrapnel Guard Marriage PART 2
The Shrapnel Guard
Sometime in 1915 Harry Daw, an Englishman, came up with the lath design represented below. According to www.vintagewatchstraps.com, he received a patent for it in Britain 1916 with a priority date of August 11, 2016. A U.S. patent was also received in 1917. See a forum discussion at Watchuseek.com about this type of guard.
Accordingly to the foregoing referenced sites and my additional research, Mr. Daw made these guards of several different materials (Nickel, Gold Filled, 9ct Gold and Sterling Silver) in a variety of sizes. This particular guard is a size 3 in Sterling Silver. Mr. Daw's guards were quite substantial pieces unlike thin stamped and cast guards made of pot metal or steel.
This particular guard is highly marked. If you scroll down through the photographs you will see four marks that were stamped on the inside of the guard. The HD is Mr. Daw's mark. The second mark of a lion indicates the material is at least 92.5% silver. The third mark of a leopard is the mark of London, and the lower case "a" indicates the guard was made in 1916. In another photo, some additional marking can be seen. The "3" indicates the size of the guard above the phrase "PROV PATENT". Provisional patent or provisional patent application has a very specific meaning these days (I should know given my profession) but the provisional patent applications didn't exist in the UK until 1949 or so and USA until 1994, so something altogether different is meant by this marking. Presumably, this marking is meant to imply the patent had been applied for but had not yet issued. Whether this is in reference to the US patent or the GB patent is unclear. Nevertheless, given the 1916 hallmark date and the lack of a patent number, I can conclude this is a very early Daw Lath guard.
Somehow I was able to win this guard for $50 from a seller in the US, who did not realize the tarnished guard was silver let alone a rarity. I was certain other collectors would have noticed the hallmarks if not the rare lath design and bid this up to well over $100. Even knock off lath guards made in subsequent years by the US manufacturer Mealy command inflated prices when they come up for auction. A hallmarked heavy silver guard by Mr. Daw himself is almost never seen. I suspect there are surprising few silver examples still in existence that have not been melted down.
But the most intriguing thing about this guard isn't that it is a rare silver lath guard by Mr. Daw, but the inscription on the top, presumably the name of the guard's original owner, LT DE COURTIVRON. The eBay seller indicated that he could not find any references to this particular soldier, but I suspect he was looking for US or British soldiers. This particular person wasn't British or American (although he did marry the daughter of a confederate general and did spend a fair amount of time in the USA): he was French. And not only was he French but he was French nobility. A picture of him is provided below from a 1917 magazine, Washington Country Life. You will note; however, this picture refers to a "captain" and not a "lieutenant". Fair enough, but another reference clearly identifies him as a lieutenant and a member of a French commission to the USA as is also referenced in the photo.
De Courtivron's full name was Henri-Marie-Georges Le Compasseur de Créqui-Montfort de Courtivron, marquis de Courtivron. He was a "marquis", which for the uninitiated (I was until just a little while ago) is below a duke but above an earl or a count. He was actually quite an interesting guy: a two time Olympian, an Explorer, and diplomat. As I mentioned, he married the daughter of a confederate general. Given the amount of time he spent in the USA, it is not surprising that the guard ended up being auctioned from within the States. Henri's french Wikipedia entry is provided here
Incidentally, a keen eye may have noticed that the inscription appears black. After I ultrasonically cleaned and lightly polished the tarnished guard, I rubbed some black paint over the inscription to highlight it. It is only fitting that this guard is paired with my favorite trench watch strap.
Re: 'the lower case "a" indicates the guard was made in 1916'. A hallmark 'date letter' indicates when the item was hallmarked, not when it was made. And it doesn't refer to a single year. Date letter punches were changed part way through the year when new wardens were elected, at the end of May for the London Assay Office, the end of June for most others, so a date letter refers to parts of two calendar years. For brevity most tables of hallmark date letters show only the first year in which the punch was used, you just need to remember that it was also used in the following year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification concerning the date hallmark. I will be editing my post accordingly.
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