(x) The Property of a GentlemanA FINE COLLECTION OF AWARDS TO OFFICERS OF THE CRIMEAN

(x) The Property of a GentlemanA FINE COLLECTION OF AWARDS TO OFFICERS OF THE CRIMEAN WARCataloguer's NoteThe Crimea Medal certainly divides opinion. Its distinctive oak-leaf clasps and floriated suspender are an acquired taste, viewed by many as overly embellished and 'heavy'. It was ever thus, and I couldn't resist quoting the reaction of Colonel Hodge, 4th Dragoon Guards, on receiving his Crimea Medal in September 1855:'A vulgar looking thing, with clasps like gin labels. How odd it is that we cannot do things like people of taste.'Coming after the austere Neo-classicism of the Military and Naval General Service Medals, the Crimea Medal must have seemed bewilderingly garish to those who received it. In artistic terms, it arrived at the height of the Gothic Revival, when the medieval fantasies of Pugin, Barry and the Pre-Raphaelites infiltrated every art form, from architecture to jewellery. This surely accounts for its radical design, the oak leaves resembling carved wood on a Gothic misericord.The Crimea Medal was radical in another sense. Previous campaign medals had been awarded retrospectively, long after the conclusion of hostilities. The Crimea Medal was the first to be issued in the theatre of operations, during the campaign itself. This gave it added poignancy, and despite all the problems it has caused medal collectors ever since (see 'By Order of Her Majesty' - The Crimea Medal, OMRS, 2017), it is those period photographs of fearsome-looking Guardsmen and Highlanders, proudly wearing their Crimea Medals, which stir our imagination. We think of the legendary actions for which those men were decorated: the storming of the Great Redoubt at the Alma, the Thin Red Line at Balaklava, the Sandbag Battery at Inkermann, the capture of the Quarries before Sebastopol. The Crimea Medal's proximity to those actions is its enduring appeal.The men whose medals form this outstanding collection were prominent in all of those engagements, and in many cases they shaped the course of events. Would the Great Redoubt have been taken if Major Champion (Lot 370) had not brought up the 95th Foot in support? Would Scarlett and the Heavy Brigade have been surrounded if Major Burton (Lot 372) had not intervened? Might the British have suffered fewer casualties at Inkermann if Major Armstrong (Lot 375) had not directed the Guards Brigade towards the Sandbag Battery? The enormous influence these men exerted is matched only by their supreme personal courage, often shown in adversity and against overwhelming odds.In describing these remarkable men, I feel I have barely scratched the surface; whoever becomes the custodian of these medals can look forward to years of new discoveries.Jack West-SherringSpink, February 2019The intriguing 'Alma casualty's' group of three awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Dugdale Astley, 3rd Baronet of Everleigh, Scots Fusilier Guards; while leading his Company up the Alma's southern bank under galling enemy fire, his men fell victim to a spirited Russian counter-attack on the Great Redoubt.As the panic-stricken 23rd Foot crashed into his Company, Astley's steady presence averted disaster; just as he was rallying his men, a Russian musket ball passed clean through his neck, missing his carotid artery by a hair.Popular among soldiers and sportsmen alike, Astley's colourful personality earned him the nickname 'The Mate'. His memoirs, Fifty Years of My Life (1894), contain a panoply of Victorian sporting pursuits. A close friend of Gerald Goodlake V.C., he remained part of the Regimental family until his dying day.Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Alma, Sebastopol (Major Astley, S. F. Gds. Septr. 1855.), naming officially engraved by Hunt & Roskell in serif capitals, date contemporarily engraved in running script, unofficial rivets between clasps, fitted with a Hunt & Roskell silver top riband buckle of which the pin is gold; Turkey, Ottoman Empire, Order of the Medjidie, 4th Class breast Badge, silver, gold centre and enamel, fitted with a silver top riband buckle; Turkish Crimea, Sardinian issue, privately manufactured by Hunt & Roskell, fitted with a Hunt & Roskell silver top riband buckle, the first with suspension claw re-affixed, nearly very fine, the remainder good very fine (3). Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium. For more information please view Terms and Conditions for Buyers.