Is this a military piece?

Hello, I bought this ashtray at a local yard sale thinking it might be a military piece. It is made of metal with an enamel finish and has no maker's marks. In the middle is a crest - a shield with a beaver at the bottom, with three leaping gazelles above and an elephant above them. Over the beaver are some zigzag lines - possibly letters A & M?? The shield is topped with a crown. I've tried to identify whose crest this is but can't find anything similar. Can anyone help?? The ashtray measures 11cm across. I guess it dates to about the 1920s/30s. Thanks

 

Hi,
Nice photos, could you post one of the back. There is a lot that can be told by seeing the back.
greg

 

Hello - thanks for getting back so quickly!! Nothing much on the back I'm afraid but photo attached anyway. When I bought it, the seller thought it was regimental but knew nothing about it.

 

Odd mix. Elephant, oryx, mountains and a beaver?

 

This is something that is lurking way deep in the corner of my mind.......I fully accept that I may be a million miles off......but....it may be the company crest of The Moffat appliances company from Canada. I knew T.l. Moffat that ran the England plant during the war and he showed me something similar....but again, I may be way off.

 

A company might make sense. The animals representing the continents they do business in.

 

"IF" I am correct...the Elephant was for strength and durability...the ? Impala for speed...the beaver for Canada....M for Moffatt

 

I couldn't decide if it was an oryx or an impala, but an impala for speed suits well.

 

Seller here has one listed @ £8:
http://www.jsfcollectables.com/_p/prd1/1014355684/product/edwardian-metal-&-enamel-crested-colonial-ashtray

Seller has listed it under Militaria and has described it as an Edwardian metal and enamel crested colonial ashtray.

I have no clue if the description is correct.

 

Bobs -- things that lurk "deep in one's mind," never fail to charm!

MY mind was wandering with Hannibal across the Alps...

 

That's interesting - I'll see what I can find for Moffat Appliances. Thanks

 

I'm amazed you managed to find another of these so quickly! I think it's unlikely to be Edwardian - it doesn't feel old enough, but colonial sounds possible. Thanks

 

MA: Moffat Appliances? Moffat is now a subsidiary of another company I think, but internet search suggests they had branches in Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the middle East....
The beaver strongly suggests Canada, the elephant perhaps India.....oryx, dunno.
Somehow I don't get a military vibe, but a British military unit that served in India and Canada and somewhere that the oryx or gazelle was common (New Zealand?) might be a thought, or a civilian supplier to such units, perhaps.
The oryx is a national symbol in Qatar and Namibia, and perhaps elsewhere.....

 

We have one too - identical artwork. Our father owned it and added on his name, 1939 and BIF. Could that be the British Industries fair which took place in that year?

 

Here’s a photo

 

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/...TEND-1939-BRITISH-INDUSTRIES-FAIR/query/Queen

 

@bobsyouruncle was a right all along! Way back from 2017.
Here's a listing for a 1930s Moffat oven. Logo on the oven door matches.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-art-collect...ove-oven-very-nice-decorator-piece/1284754126

 

That’s for these insights. Do we think Moffat would have taken part in the British Industries Fair in 1939?