General Herbert Horatio Kitchener

General Herbert Horatio Kitchener, Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum: a splendid Indian zardozi work presentation tea cosy, of scarlet velvet, heavily adorned in gilt thread and sequins with the title and arms of Her Highness the Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum of Bhopal, the other side with the names and titles of Kitchener as Commander in Chief India; together with a zardozi work three division purse.

Provenance: by decent from Lord Kitchener.

Kitchener served as Commander in Chief of the armed forces in India between 1902 and 1909. Shah Jahan was the Begum, or female ruler, of the Princely State of Bhopal in Central India between 1868 and 1901. Zardozi work is a form of Indian embroidery of which Bhopal has been a noteable centre of production. This tea-cosy, and the similar purse that accompanies it, would appear to have been diplomatic gifts from the Begum to the General. It is interesting to note that the Vicereine Lady Curzon wore a dress incorporating zardozi work at her coronation in 1903.