Stevengraph of HMS Majestic

HMS Majestic (STG182) by Stevens. There are just six in the “Battleship” series, and all are hard to find. They range from 4 star rarity (as for this one) to 7 star rarity according to the Sprake Darby reference. Here we can see the title woven into the bow of the vessel with two flags on the foremast and one to the main. The silk is in excellent condition as is the mount. The label was detached and is shown separately. It is label 31-39a dated to 1901. Probably sold on board or at naval ports, but by their very nature they would have declined in interest as other vessels were built, and these were no longer in commission. The “RD” can be seen woven in bottom left and that relates to the Registration Number 384379 (granted 10 December 1901) which can also be seen on the rear at the bottom. Completed December 1895, and sunk 1915. The label is absolutely right for the Stevengraph, but the markings on the back of the latter are larger. We can assume the framer removed a larger mount for this label and trimmed it, attaching to the paper to the rear. The real bonus is a contemporary paper cutting giving details of the vessels operations in the Dardanelles where it was sunk.