Badge — British Red Cross Society and Order of St John badge, belonging to Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, Great Britain, 1914-1919 (S.595-2018)
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1914-1919
Badge in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number S.595-2018), made in Great Britain, dated 1914-1919. The museum's brief description reads: British Red Cross Society and Order of St John badge, World War I, belonging to Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven..
Museum description: British Red Cross Society and Order of St John badge, oval surmounted by a crown, metal with cut enamelled shields bearing the symbols of the Red Cross (red Geneva cross on white ground), left, and the Order of St John of Jerusalem (white cross on red ground, with red lions in each quarter), right. Around the edge, an enamelled blue band with, in gold lettering, the inscription 'BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY & ORDER OF ST.
JOHN'. On reverse is stamped the name of the maker, a capital letter 'L' and the number '268'. With metal pin. The museum records it as Enamelled metal, measuring Diameter 4.4 cm; Diameter 2.7 cm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
British Red Cross Society and Order of St John badge, World War I, belonging to Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven. From an early age Gabrielle Enthoven, née Romaine (1868-1950), was fascinated by the theatre. After her marriage in 1893 she began to collect press cuttings and playbills and, following the death of her husband in 1910, she became involved with the Pioneer Players, a feminist theatre company for which she wrote plays. As her collection of theatrical material grew, Mrs Enthoven became aware that no archive or museum was documenting the British theatre as she was doing. In 1911 she wrote to the Observer newspaper, beginning a campaign for the establishment of a national collection for the performing arts within an existing museum. Though she received support in the press, an attempt by the London Museum to establish a permanent exhibition of theatre was unsuccessful. Mrs Enthoven, however, continued her campaign and, after several attempts, in 1924 she persuaded the V&A to take her vast collection, which by this time was outgrowing her home. The Gabrielle Enthoven Collection was housed in the Prints and Drawings department and Mrs Enthoven continued to work on the collection in a voluntary capacity and provided funding for staff and for new acquisitions. The Gabrielle Enthoven Collection was one of the founding collections of the V&A's Theatre Museum (1974-2007) and the collection's playbills, cuttings, photographs, prints, designs and memorabilia are now held in the…
Physical characteristics
- Material
- metal, enamel
- Dimensions
- Diameter 4.4 cm; Diameter 2.7 cm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Enamelled metal
- Place recorded
- Great Britain
Identification
- Museum object name
- Badge
- Museum object number
- S.595-2018
- Museum system number
- O1468136
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and date against a specialist reference.