Images Dated 22nd November 2007

Top: Gold snuffbox inlaid with various stones with a cornelian cameo in the centre with

XZL149426 Top: Gold snuffbox inlaid with various stones with a cornelian cameo in the centre with amorini, possibly by J. C. Neuber of Dresden. Bottom: Gold snuffbox with groups of figures amid rococo scrollwork and flowers on a green translucent enamel background by German School, (18th century); Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK; German, out of copyright

© Bridgeman Images

HMS Dumbarton Castle displays her Paying Off Pennant as she enters Portsmouth Harbour

Veteran Royal Navy warship HMS Dumbarton Castle flys her Paying Off Pennant as she returns to her Portsmouth home for the last time before retiring from service.
The patrol vessel, which joined the fleet in 1982, sailed into the Naval Base today (22/11) after completing her last deployment as the Falkland Islands guard ship. She has been protecting the islands and UK territorial waters.
In the Royal Navy a paying-off pennant is flown to mark the end of a ship's commission. Traditionally the pennant is the same length as the ship, and somewhat longer if the commission has been extended. It is said to have originated in the 19th century when all cleaning rags were tied together and hoisted as a sign that they were finished with

© Crown Copyright

German costumes, 15th-16th century (1849).Artist: Edward May

German costumes, 15th-16th century (1849). Featured are a chief magistrate of Cologne in his official garments (1572), an executioner of Cologne (16th century), a messenger of Raguse (16th century) and a judicial messenger (15th century). A 19th century version based on original 15th and 16th century images. From Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, by Paul Lacroix, Ferdinand Sere and A Rivaud, Volume III (Paris, 1849)

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images