British Cipher on Swedish Box

[Granmaa]

I'd very much appreciate some help with what I believe to be a British cipher on a late 18th century Swedish box.

Miles



The original thread: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=27841

[JLDoggett]

If English, that would be the coronet of an earl. As for the cypher they are not specificly recorded so who exactly it belonged to might be almost impossible to guess at. Should you be able to date the item you could then find a contempory list of the Earls of Britton and see who's initials might be.

[Granmaa]

Thank you for your reply.

I thought the garter around the initials might help to narrow it down. As for the initials, I can't even distinguish them, which will make things tricky!

Miles

[agphile]

I read it as the letter L, intertwined with another backwards facing L Not an area I know much about, but a quick search showed a few examples, used by peers, but not of the right rank for your item.

Two intertwined Ls for the Marques of Lansdowne (1737-1805) and the Marquess of Lothian (1833-1900)

And four intertwined Ls (!) used by the Earl of Lauderdale (1653-1695) - not the right dates.

It might be worth looking for an Earl L..... within the right time frame.

[dognose]

Hi Miles,

I agree with agphile about the intertwined letter 'L', but could this not be a Swedish Ducal crown? I'm assuming the little piece on the top of the crown, is a mark on the silver, rather than part of the engraving.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ducal ... Sweden.svg

Trev.

[JLDoggett]

I thought it looked most like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coron ... h_Earl.svg

[Granmaa]

Hi Trev,

I first thought it was an British engraving because of the garter collar. It has since been pointed out to me, by someone with much keener eyes, that above the jewel is a winged harp which means this is a collar for the order of St Patrick. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_St_Patrick
So, combined with the Earl's coronet, there are only two possibilities: Henry Loftus (1783) Earl of Eley and Charles Loftus (1794), his nephew.
Since Henry Loftus died in Bath two months after he was appointed but before he was invested, I think it's more likely that the box belonged to Charles Loftus before he became Marquess of Eley in 1800.
I can find no evidence that either was ever in Sweden, so most likely it was given by a foreign visitor.

Miles

[dognose]

Hi Miles,

That's great research. Well done.

Regards Trev.