Westminster Bridge Card Case, 1849

The very rare scene on this Victorian silver card case depicts Westminster Bridge in central London with Westminster Abbey and the partly built Palace of Westminster in the background. Following recent terrorist atrocities, this bridge has become famous for the wrong reasons, however it has an interesting history beyond this event.

This Victorian card case was made by Edward Smith and has a good feel to it. The "castle top" type scene is framed by a profusion of embossed floral scrolls and the obverse is similarly decorated with a gothic script monogram engraved to the central cartouche. The case is in excellent condition throughout with crisp detail.

A bridge at Westminster was first proposed in 1664 and due to opposition from watermen was not completed until 1750. It was the catalyst for further bridge building across the Thames in the mid-18th century. The bridge depicted in the raised scene is the original stone built example, but this was replaced in 1862 by the current cast iron bridge. The busy river in the foreground of the picture shows three boats heading downstream. 

The building to the left in the background is the Palace of Westminster (commonly called the Houses of Parliament) which was still in the process of being built at the time of this card case - it was begun in 1840 and finally completed 30 years later. Interestingly, the famous Elizabeth Tower containing Big Ben is not shown because it was not completed until 1859 (post dating this card case).

The two towered building to the right is Westminster Abbey which has been the coronation church for all English kings and queens since 1066. The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the UK, with the medieval shrine of an Anglo-Saxon saint still at its heart.

We have been unable to identify the partly shown building on the far right which stands on the site of the current Portcullis House at 1 Parliament Street.