Material: Gilt brass.
Size: 25 mm.
Description: This is an original gilt brass officer's uniform tunic button from Alfred Holt and Company, popularly known as the Blue Funnel Line. The face features a prominent, high-relief engraving of the company's distinct rectangular house flag, which is detailed with horizontal shading lines to traditionally indicate the color blue in heraldic engraving. Nestled precisely in the center of the flag is a crisp, raised diamond containing the interconnected monogram initials "AH" for Alfred Holt. The entire scene is encircled by an elegant, raised inner rim and finished with a classic rope-twist outer border. The reverse side features a strong metal shank and carries the stamped backmark of "Stephen Simpson, Preston," a prestigious British military and institutional accoutrement maker.
Circa: Early to Mid 20th Century
Notes:
The Blue Funnel Line operated as one of the largest and most prestigious merchant shipping operations in the British Empire. Founded by brothers Alfred and Philip Holt in Liverpool in 1865, the company officially traded as the Ocean Steam Ship Company.
The line served with immense distinction through both global conflicts, operating directly on dangerous frontline supply routes and suffering the heavy loss of 46 merchant ships to enemy action.
SS Tyndareus (1916): A legendary troopship that struck a German naval mine off Cape Agulhas in 1917. The disciplined crew stood fast at parade rest while the ship took on water, preventing panic until a rescue ship arrived, saving every soul on board.