WWII Blitz Ashtray Made Of Stone Recovered From The Houses of Parliament

The London Stonecraft Company were permitted to make souvenirs for sale to the general public to raise funds on behalf of HRH The Duke of Gloucester's Red Cross and St. John Fund. The objects they produced included bookends, inkwells, letter racks, ashtrays and serviette rings and they utilised stones recovered from historic bombed London buildings including the House of Commons after being bombed by the Luftwaffe in the London Blitz in 1940 and 1941. They also used historic stone from other damaged London buildings particularly from the East End that was very badly hit. Our ashtray is made from Portland Stone and a hand written label stating 'Made from the bombed houses of Parliament 1941' is attached to the base. The edge of the astray features stone in the rough and is dressed stone to top ; the base is covered in felt. The centre of the ashtray carries a British Lion and below the legend 'London 1941'. From our research the Houses of Parliament were bombed by the Luftwaffe on 20th September 1940, 8th December the same year and again on 10/11 May 1941 a raid which caused the greatest damage to the Palace of Westminster. Interestingly The House of Lords had more luck in being struck by a bomb which passed through the floor of the Chamber without exploding! Our ashtray measures 6" diameter and stands 1.25" tall (15 cm x 3 cm) The lead seal shows minor age wear (as shown in our picture) but this does not detract form a historical souvenir from the darkest days of WWII.