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Item: Card Case Description: Windsor Castle & Abbotsford House Hallmark: Birmingham 1841 by Joseph Willmore Dimensions: 102mm x 74mm rectangular; 89g weight Comments: This is a truly fantastic quality double-sided card case. This Willmore-made card case is as good as you will find, with excellent detail to the crisp scenes, all over foliate scroll embossed decoration (even on the rounded sides) and a good tight hinge. Windsor Castle was the principal residence of Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert. Today, it continues to be one of the official homes’ of
Queen Elizabeth II and is the largest inhabited castle in the world. The
majority of English monarchs have lived in the castle at some stage and
dating back to William the Conqueror (King between 1066 and 1087), is the
oldest castle in continuous occupation in the world. The scene shown is
the South Wing and is the most famous view of the castle. The flag flying
in the centre of the scene indicates that the monarch is in residence. Abbotsford is the house built and lived in by Sir Walter Scott, probably the most well known Scottish author, penning such timeless works as Ivanhoe, Lady of the Lake, Kenilworth, Rob Roy, Waverley and The Heart of Midlothian. He was one of the most popular novelists and poets of the 19th Century. In 1811 Sir Walter bought the property which was to become Abbotsford, set in the heart of the Scottish Borders, on the banks of the River Tweed. The building of Abbotsford took six years, and was completed in 1824. The house was opened to the public in 1833, five months after Sir Walter's death, and has been enjoyed by visitors ever since. The view shown in this scene shows the front of Abbotsford seen from the East Court. To the centre of the scene, in front of the garden wall, a peacock can be seen perched on a roller.
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