A 19th century French carved coconut bugbear flask

A 19th century French carved coconut bugbear flask, with brass mounts, relief decorated with the battle of Solferino and depicting Napoleon III on horseback commanding his army, inscriber 'BATAILLE SOLFERINO', with a bugbear end and a beast finial, 17.5cm long.

The Battle of Solferino on 24th June 1859 resulted in the victory of the allied French army led by Napoleon III and the Sardinian army under Victor Emmanuel II against the Austrian army under Emperor Franz Joseph I. It was the last major battle where all the armies were under the personal command of their respective monarchs. It resulted in the annexation of most of Lombardy by Sardinia-Piedmont, thus contributing to the unification of Italy. The battle led the Swiss Jean-Henri Dunant to write his book 'A Memory of Solferino', he was horrified by the suffering of the wounded soldiers and this led to the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Red Cross.