The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Companion, C.B., Military Division, breast badge in 22 carat gold and enamels, with the very unusual markers mark ‘TD HD’ for Thomas Davies and Henry Davies of 39 Brewer Street, London, and date mark ‘U’ for 1815, complete with early issue gold swivel-ring wide suspension and original three pronged gold ribbon buckle, the gold crown centre’s are indicative of the work of these jewellers, who may well have hand cut their own centres. Th old wide ribbon is affixed with three loops and some black ribbon ties to prevent movement when worn in uniform. This insignia is of excellent quality, and the more pronounced gold crown centres do reflect the level of quality of the piece. A spectacular example and thus exceedingly rare.
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine.
Insignia dating from 1815 would have been awarded to officers for their services during the Peninsula War and at the Battle of Waterloo.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath) is a was founded by King George 1st on 18th May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as "Knights of the Bath". George I "erected the Knights of the Bath into a regular Military Order". He did not (as is commonly believed) revive the Order of the Bath, since it had never previously existed as an Order, in the sense of a body of knights who were governed by a set of statutes and whose numbers were replenished when vacancies occurred.
