'Houses of Parliament' Silver Card Case, 1844 Nat Mills

This is a fabulous quality silver castle-top card made during the early Victorian period at a time in the UK often referred to as "Railway Mania" when railway share prices doubled and thousands of new railways were either being planned or built. Wealthy tourists were now able to travel the length and breadth of the country and castle-top card cards made ideal souvenirs of their trips.

This silver card case was made by the master box maker Nathaniel Mills and depicts an excellent raised scene of the Houses of Parliament with the River Thames in the foreground, complete with ferry boats and paddle steamer. The scene is set within a profusion of floral scrolls with more of the same to the obverse around a central scroll cartouche that has neither been engraved nor erased. 

This is a superb quality antique card case that remains in excellent, crisp condition. A first rate example!

The Houses of Parliament (also known as the Palace of Westminster) is the seat of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom - the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The building lies on the north bank of the River Thames in London, close to the government buildings in Whitehall. The palace contains around 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and 5 kilometres (3 miles) of corridors. After a fire in 1834, the present Houses of Parliament (as shown in the scene on the card case) were built over the next 30 years. They were the work of the architect Sir Charles Barry (1795–1860) and his assistant Augustus Welby Pugin (1812–52). As the building was still being completed and was the show piece architectural feat of London at the time this item of silver was made, the card case would have been an ideal souvenir of a trip to London ... probably by train.