Mustard pot, 27th Regiment of Madras Native Infantry, 1880 (c)

Silver plate, made by Elkington and Company, 1880 (c); inscribed, 'XXVII', and marked with plate worker's mark and number, '1705'.

Openwork holder with blue glass liner. The holder is open-bottomed; the body cylindrical with openwork scrolls; the scalloped foot splays out all round the base; on the back is a solid, scrolling question mark shaped handle with a hinge at the top attached to a plain, domed lid with projecting scrolled thumb-piece.

The mustard pot is from the regimental silver of the 5th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment, formerly the 27th Regiment of Madras Infantry. It is associated with Captain (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Cecil Vessy King (1901-1990), 5th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment, who served on the North West Frontier of India in the 1930s and in Burma during World War Two (1941-1945). He retired from the Army in 1948.

The 27th Regiment of Madras Native Infantry was initially raised as the 1st Extra Madras Battalion in 1798, but was renumbered the same year as the 1st/14th Madras Native Infantry. In 1824 it was renumbered again as the 27th Madras Native Infantry. In 1885 the word 'Native' was dropped from its title.

In the 1903 reorganisation of the Indian Army, the regiment became the 87th Punjabis and served on the North West Frontier and in Mesopotamia during World War One (1914-1918). In the 1922 reorganisation, the regiment became the 5th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment. After the Fall of Singapore in February 1942, the battalion was captured and then disbanded at the end of World War Two (1939-1945).