Silver matchbox
This silver match box belonged to the actor Lewis Waller. It is hallmarked and inscribed: ‘The White Man. 100th night, April 7th, 1908. To Lewis Waller from Nora Lancaster’.
Nora Lancaster was born in 1882, and was an actress known for her performances in Shakespearean plays including As You Like It in 1909 and Macbeth and Julius Ceasar in 1911. She was the daughter of actress and playwright Ellen Lancaster Wallis and John Lancaster, who was the proprietor of Shaftsbury Theatre, which he built for his wife. Ellen made her stage debut in 1872 as Pauline in The Lady of Lyons, appearing on stage later with Henry Irving as the Abbess in Dante.
