Beschreibung:

Russian Battleship 'Orel' , an iron shield momento from the Battle of Tsushima, Japan 27th-28th May 1905, fashioned from a fragment of Orel's plating pierced by a Japanese shell, the fragment is shaped around the hole as a shield, through which a photograph of the stricken ship is seen lying crippled in Maizura Harbour after the debacle. A small brass plate below is inscribed 'Souvenir of the Naval Victory of the Japan Sea, 27th-28th May 1905' , a wooden box is fitted to the back to hold the photograph, together with the shipping page from a contemporary newspaper and a carte de visite inscribed 'For Miss Condew with the compliments of Vice Admiral Saito, 1907' (the then Japanese 'Minister of Marine'), the black finished shield suspended by a heavy link chain -- 6¾ x 7in. (17.2 x 18cm.)