£500 - £800
SS General Abbatucci, wrecked 1869 Diplomatic pouch name plate, double-sided Brass, engraved. Brass plate: 8 x 13.5cm. Attached to the remains of the leather pouch, with the separate leather handle. Rare and unusual. One side refers to 'the Minister for Foreign Affairs - Marseille' the other to the 'Dispatch Service – Ambassador of France – Naples' The General Abbatuci was a 282-ton cargo ship. On 13th May 1869 she left the port of Marseilles on a routine trip bound for the port of Civitavecchia, Italy. Her cargo was thought to include several million French Francs and gifts for the birthday of Pope Pius IX from officials in France and possible pay for the French Army stationed in Italy. The Abbatuci was involved in a collision with a larger Norwegian vessel off the northern coast of Corsica. She was holed and sank with the loss of 54 passengers and crew. This name-plate was part of a diplomatic pouch conveying messages between the French Minister for Foreign Affairs in Marseille and the French Ambassador to Naples. It was travelling on a ship containing treasure for Pope Pius IX which would have been used to pay the French troops who protected him in Rome from the forces of Italian reunification. The French withdrew their troops the following year, leading to the collapse of the Papal States, which makes the secret contents of the diplomatic pouch ever more intriguing.
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