Victorian antique sterling silver wine funnel with interesting military history

Antique sterling silver wine funnel and filter, with a large capacity bowl of fluted and flared form; and a similarly fluted spout that pours perfectly. This piece is of substantial weight and of a heavy-gauge sterling silver.

The funnel is engraved with the insignia REGIMENT XXIV which, in the context of military units, usually refers to the 24th Regiment of Foot, which was later known as the South Wales Borderers. This regiment is particularly famous for its role in the Anglo-Zulu War, specifically the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift and was awarded seven Victoria Crosses for its actions at the latter.

First appearing at the end of the 17th century, silver wine funnels were designed to decant wine from the bottle to a decanter for the table. The bowl was pierced with holes for catching larger pieces of detritus such as cork, while a retaining ring kept a piece of muslin straining cloth in place which filtered out finer sediment and prevented spoiling the wine in the decanter.

In the 18th century the spigot was crafted with a curved tip to ensure the wine ran gently down the wall of the decanter and, particularly for very fine or old wines, prevent bruising the wine.