George V Silver Trusty Servant Napkin Ring

A George V pierced silver Napkin Ring of 'D' shape, the top with pierced and engraved depiction of the 'Trusty Servant', the base engraved with an initial 'B'.

By Sydney & Co, Birmingham, 1930.

The Trusty Servant is an emblematic figure in a painting at Winchester College and the name of the college's alumni magazine.

The wall-painting called The Trusty Servant was painted by John Hoskins in 1579. It was reworked by William Cave in 1809, giving the painting now on display there. It hangs outside the college's kitchen.

The American author Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1818-1896) described "the time-honoured Hircocervus, or picture of 'the Trusty-servant,' which hangs near the kitchen, and which emblematically sets forth those virtues in domestics, of which we Americans know nothing. It is a figure, part man, part porker, part deer, and part donkey; with a padlock on his mouth, and various other symbols in his hands and about his person, the whole signifying a most valuable character."

£75.00