WWI horse shoe hoof inkwell engraved on the lid below. The Queen's Bays are the 2nd Dragoon Guards. 

"QUEENIE" "C" SQUADRON. QUEENS'S BAYS, MONS, 1914. DIED FRANCE, JAN 2ND 1918, AGED 18 YEARS. 

MONS refers to the Retreat from Mons in 1914. 

The outbreak of WWI (1914) saw the Queen's Bays deployed to the Western Front with the 1st Cavalry Division. It fought in the following engagements; Retreat from Mons 1914, Le Cateau 1914, The Marne 1914, Ypres 1914, The Somme 1916, Arras 1917, Cambrai 1917, and The Scarpe 1918.

The inkwell is a made from the actual hoof of Queenie, with brass fittings and was made by the renowned makers of Rowland Ward of London. It is missing the liner. When I acquired this the top brass section was separate from the hoof. I have Carefully tacked it back onto the base using the 3 original remaining nails out of 4 that were present. The brass top section is not sitting flush as you can see from the images, however this does not take away from the visual appeal of this item. I have not polished the brass as I did not want to remove the lovely patina it has built up over the last 100 years. In total it is 13.3cm in length x 9.6cm across x 7.8cm high.

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