Original Item: Only one available. This is a high quality wool heavily embroidered 71″ x 50″ table cover displaying the Regimental Cypher of the 63rd Regiment of Foot, the WEST SUFFOLK. The cloth is a rich burgundy color with multicolor embroidery all around the edges. This table cloth dates from the regiments time in India during the 1870s and 1880s.
The 63rd was raised in 1758 and lasted until the Childers Reforms of 1881. Known as “THE BLOODSUCKERS,” they fought in the Revolutionary War at Bunker Hill, Long Island, Brandywine, Germantown, Fort Clinton, Fort Montgomery, Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston.
They served in Canada and the Caribbean during the Napoleonic Wars and Australia and India in the 19th Century. Their last action as the 63rd was to take part in the 1878 Second Afghan War. The Regiment was amalgamated in 1881.
The table cloth, clearly of great workmanship was created in India for the Officer’s Mess in Madras and retains all the embroiderys fine colors. There are a few moth nips but nothing of great importance bearing in mind that this is already 140 years old. Very impressive!