Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, Lieutenant Governor Dutch East Indies & Bencoolen, Old Sheffield Plate Salver.

A Georgian Old Sheffield Plate Armorial Salver. Of circular form with a raised lead filled silver foliate border. Raised on three ornate paw bracket feet. The underside with rolled over silver edges. The armorial commemorates the 1817 marriage of Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (1781 – 1826) and Sophia Hull (1786 - 1858). A professional heraldry report accompanies this item. Raffles served as the Lieutenant Governor of the Dutch East Indies and Bencoolen. Commonly known as the founder of modern Singapore. Raffles was an East India Company officer and was involved in the capture of the Indonesian island of Java from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars. On January 29th 1819 Raffles landed on the shore of a sparsely populated island off the southern tip of Malaya and risking collision with the Dutch, established by treaty the Port of Singapore. He bought Singapore for the East India Company and it became the most strategically important colony in Britain's eastern empire. His obsession was to stop the continuing Dutch usurpation of British interests in the East Indies. Approximate dimensions are 25.5 cm diameter and 3.5 cm height. Approximate weight is 808 grams. In good condition with later chased detail. Some light copper bleed and high surface wear with some pitting. Some loss of silver to the raised border detail.