Sweetheart brooch with the badge of 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse), 1917

Made by Edward Tessier, hallmarked London 1917.

Small, jewelled representations of regimental and unit badges of this type were given by serving officers to their wives and girlfriends. This badge was given by Major Alan Fleming Hartley to his wife Philippa, probably after he had returned to France from leave. 11th Probyn's Horse spent most of the First World War in India, although many of its officers and men were sent in drafts to the Western Front, among them Hartley, who served with a British cavalry regiment, the 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers).