JEWELLERY, DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS AUCTION Tuesday, 12 March 2024 - 10:00 AM start
A rare Suffragette silver and enamel Holloway Prison brooch,
Lot Details
in the form of a portcullis and with the enamelled convicts arrow in the Suffragette colours, made by Toye & Co. London. Designed by Sylvia Pankhurst these brooches were awarded to those imprisoned for the cause. The portcullis represents parliament, the chains of imprisonment and the arrow of the prison uniform enameled in the purple, white and green of the WSPU. Stamped SILVER and with makers mark. Known variously as the Portcullis Badge, Holloway Prison Brooch and the Victoria Cross of the Union, the silver brooch was presented by the WSPU to women imprisoned at Holloway Prison for militant suffragette activity. Designed by Sylvia Pankhurst and manufactured by Toye & Co. London. Having been initially mentioned in Votes for Women on 16 April 1909, the first brooches were presented by Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst, Annie Kenney and Emmeline Pethick Lawrence at a large meeting at the Albert Hall on 29 April to coincide with the meeting in London of the International Woman's Suffrage Alliance. It was presented with the illuminated addresses also designed by Sylvia Pankhurst that had been awarded to released prisoners since September 1908
