Lawrence’s silver-gilt dagger – presented to him by Sherif Nasir after the taking of Akaba in July 1917 – has gone on public display for the first time since it was saved from export last year.
The dagger is one of the exhibits at the newly opened National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, which over the last three years has undergone a £23.75m redevelopment project.
It is one of three daggers that Lawrence wore during the Arab Revolt of 1916-18. In 1921, he left it with Lady Kathleen Scott – widow of Scott of the Antarctic – when she sculpted him wearing his Arabian robes.
It remained in the care of her family – making only rare appearances at major Lawrence exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and National Portrait Gallery – until being put up for auction at Christie’s in 2015, when it was sold to an overseas buyer.
After the Department for Culture Media and Sport put an embargo on its export, the dagger was saved for the nation when the National Army Museum stepped in to match the £122,500 auction price with the help of a £78,400 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
The dagger, together with a set of Lawrence’s Arabian robes and a headdress, can be seen in the Army gallery at the newly reopened museum. Entry is free. For more details see the museum’s website HERE.