decorated with bands of oak leaves on matted grounds between narrower guilloche bands, the front applied with the Prince of Wales feathers & inscribed 'Given by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to the Royal Kentish Bowmen, won 31st. August 1795 by Theodore Forbes Leith MD of Greenwich', complete with chain and clasp, the latter terminating in the Prince of Wales feathers, in fitted case, lined in navy silk & velvet (the silk distressed, hinge damaged), 21.5cm long, 348g

Provenance

Christie’s, London, 13 June 2006, lot 264

The latter part of the 18th century saw the emergence of numerous exclusive Clubs and Societies for the nobility, many with their own rules and costume. One of these - The Royal Kentish Bowmen - met at Dartford Heath, having originally been formed at North Cray by a Mr. J.E. Maddocks in 1785 with only eleven members. The Society met each Saturday between May and September at Bowman's Lodge, a house especially fitted out for their use with a 100 yard range dressed in finery decreed by the Prince of Wales himself. Members who failed to turn up in uniform were fined 7 shillings and sixpence and not allowed to shoot. The Society ceased to exist in 1802.