KITCHENER of KHARTOUM

Printed at bottom of card-mount:-
WOVEN IN PURE SILK BY T. STEVENS (COVENTRY) LTD. 
 
 

silk:
10.2cm high by 6.4cm wide

by Godden:
Strangely, we have two military figures named Kitchener - both linked with the battle for Khartoum.

Firstly, there is Sir Frederick Walter Kitchener, K.C.B., who was born in 1858 and died on 6 March 1912. He served in the Afghan War of 1878-1900 and also, with distinction, in the South African War, 1899-1902. He had earlier served at Khartoum.

Secondly, and more importantly, we have Horatio Herbert Kitchener (depicted on the Stevens silk portraits), the first Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, who was born on 24 June 1850.
He passed out at the Royal Military Academy in December 1870, and was commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1871. In 1874 he was sent to Palestine.
He was to remain in the Mediterranean area for many years, and his exploits there read like an adventure novel. He served for a period in the Egyptian army and sent home the first authoritative report on General Gordon's death at Khartoum in January 1885. He was Governor-General of Eastern Sudan from 1886 to 1888.
In 1896, during the River War, he was promoted to Major-General. Khartoum was retaken in September 1898 - a success which led to the complete reconquest of the Sudan.
On his return home, in 1898, he was made Baron Kitchener of Khartoum, receiving the thanks of Parliament (with a grant of £30,000) and of the nation as a whole.
Kitchener was Chief of Staff to Lord Roberts during the early years of the Boer War and became Commander-in-Chief before the war was successfully concluded in May 1902. For service in South Africa, he received a viscounty and a grant of £50,000.
Lord Kitchener was subsequently Commander-in-Chief in London, but he is perhaps best known for the famous First World War poster, 'Your Country Needs You', which successfully implored Britain's manhood to join the colours.
He died at sea in June 1916 while on a voyage to Russia in H.M.S. Hampshire, which sank with great loss of life after striking a mine.

The portrait silk was registered at the Patent Office on 7 April 1900, and the registration number 355800 is often woven in the bottom right-hand corner of the silk, below the signature 'Kitchener of Khartoum' - though on some examples this number was omitted.
The title LORD KITCHENER was first listed on label 31+32.

At least two versions were made. The first version is shown as so344 on this site.

A rare, later variation (not previously listed) shows an older face, with the moustache trimmed so that it is substantially smaller than in the first version, the eyes appearing half closed, and less hair to be seen (image above).
In general, this later face is rather shorter and fatter than the 1900 version although, apart from the face, the rest of the silk is identical in both versions.

My own rare second version is on a type E card-mount with the late credit 'Woven in silk by T. Stevens (Coventry) Ltd.' and a post-1910 back-label 32+31, which lists King George V and Queen Mary.

The card-mounts can be cut with either a straight or domed top to the panel.

Kitchener was also depicted on a Stevens silk-work postcard and on a Grant silk-woven portrait

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