A GEORGE IV TRAVELLING TOILET SERVICE, WITH SILVER-GILT FITTINGS, VARIOUS MAKERS, LONDON, MOSTLY 1823-1827 AND CIRCA, PROBABLY RETAILED BY STORR & MORTIMER |

the interior with a number of fittings, mostly silver-gilt, engraved in gothic script ‘Janet’ below a baron’s coronet, comprising: a small tapering cylindrical mug, die-stamped surface of hops and leaves against a matted ground, Paul Storr for Storr & Mortimer, 1826, 8cm., 3 1/8in. high;  a cut-glass travelling inkwell, the mounts flat-chased with flowers, foliage and shells, John Douglas, 1813; a pierced, engraved and flat-chased box lid and mount (cut-glass box missing), John & Archibald Douglas, 1822; six oblong or rectangular cut-glass boxes with mounts and detachable flat-chased lids, two pierced, Thomas Whitehead, 1823; seven circular or rectangular cut-glass pots or boxes and a similar triangular box with mounts and detachable flat-chased lids, Mary & Charles Reily, 1826/27; ten cut-glass bottles of various sizes with screw-on lids, unmarked, circa 1823-1827; a single-struck teaspoon in mid 18th century style, the terminal with bearded face, an awl and a button hook, P. Storr, 1826 and circa; a mounted steel corkscrew, the mount with no maker’s mark, 1826; a green-glass scent flask and stopper with richly chased and pierced mount, the sides and hinged lid set with small turquoises, unmarked, circa 1823-1827, 8cm., 3 1/8in. high; the following, mostly silver-gilt, some with steel blades, &c.: a small perfume funnel, a pair of scissors (the blades etched ‘LONDON’), a bodkin, a pair of tweezers/ear scoop, a tongue scraper, unmarked, circa 1823-1827; the following with die-stamped handles: two knives with steel blades and a desk seal, also a small columnar gadget with sliding member and a mounted and turquoise-set etched steel bookmark, 1819-1838, Paris ‘petite guarantee’ mark, together with a contemporary etched steel rule, 20.3cm., 8in. long; an engine-turned rectangular vinaigrette, Thomas Parker, Birmingham, 1824, 2.7cm., 1 1/8in. wide; a gilt-metal paper knife with rococo pattern mounted and carved mother of pearl handle, unmarked, circa 1823-1827, 21cm., 8 1/4in. long; a small almost cylindrical chased and turquoise-set collar; and the following gold items: an engine-turned pencil holder, with turquoise-set slider and a rococo pattern dip pen with gilt-metal nib fitting, unmarked, English, circa 1823-1827; and two rectangular pill boxes with cut corners, the hinged lids richly chased with foliage around a central cartouche engraved with the initials JV below a European nobleman’s coronet (for the former Jane Elizabeth ‘Janet,’ Countess of Ellenborough while she was married, 1832 to 1842, to Baron Karl Theodore Herbert von Venningen Üllner (1806-1874) of Bavaria), unmarked, 4.3cm., 1 5/8in. wide; in a rectangular hardwood case with green velvet and silk lining, brass handles, the hinged lid inset in brass with the entwined initials E J, respectively engraved ‘LLENBOROUGH’ and ‘ANET’ below a baron’s coronet

Countess Jane Elizabeth ‘Janet’ Ellenborough (1807-1881)

One glass box cracked and broken. The large rectangular box with absent glass body. The long thin glass box with large chip to corner and loose rim mount. One scent bottle with heavily damage neck, cover fits loosely. Another scent bottle with medium chip to neck. General nicks and small chips to edges of the glass throughout. Some stoppers fused to bodies. The mounts all clearly fully or part marked. The case with general stuffs and scratches throughout. One large chip to wood at front underside corner. Key not present. Some of the manicure/necessaire pieces composite and possibly gold. Penknife missing and replaced with a sealing was pen and another implement incomplete. Otherwise good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The original owner of this dressing case was Countess Jane Elizabeth ‘Janet’ Ellenborough (1807-1881), second wife of the politician and sometime Governor-General of India, Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough (1790-1871). Noted for her beauty and charm, she was the daughter of Admiral Sir Henry Digby (1770-1842) and his wife, Jane Elizabeth (1777-1863), daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester and widow of Charles Nevison Howard, Viscount Andover (1775-1800). Janet Digby and Ellenborough were married on 15 September 1824 but they were ill-suited and the union was strained from the start. Their divorce was finalized in 1830, she having run away to Basel to be with her lover, Prince Felix Schwarzenberg (1800-1852), attaché and secretary to Prince Esterhazy. In 1833 she married Baron Karl von Venningen (1806-1874), but not before she had had an affair with King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786-1868). Her next conquest was Spyridon Theotokis (b. 1805), a Greek count whom she married bigamously in 1841, the year before von Venningen and she were divorced. Other affairs followed until, aged 46, she met on a journey to Syria the Bedouin chief, Sheik Medjuel el Mezrab (b. about 1824). Although he was nearly half her age, they were married and subsequently spent 28 happy years together until her death in Damascus on 11 August 1881. Her will, in the name of The Hon. Jane Elizabeth Digby el Mezrab with an estate valued at a little over £6,000, was proved in London on 13 April 1882 by her brother and sole executor, the Rt. Hon. Edward St. Vincent, Baron Digby of Minterne, Cerne Abbas, Dorset.