A Victorian novelty silver-mounted table vesta holder and striker

A Victorian novelty silver-mounted table vesta holder and striker,

by S. Mordan, London 1879,

carved as the head of Ally Sloper, on a raised circular base, set with glass eyes, the underside with ribbed decoration, height 9.2cm.

Alexander "Ally" Sloper is the fictional character of the comic strip Ally Sloper. He is one of the earliest comic strip characters and is regarded as the first recurring character in comics. Red-nosed and blustery, an archetypal lazy schemer often found "sloping" through alleys to avoid his landlord and other creditors, he was created for the British magazine Judy by writer and fledgling artist Charles H. Ross, and inked and later fully illustrated by his French wife Émilie de Tessier. The strips, which used text narrative beneath unbordered panels, premiered in the 14 August 1867 issue of Judy, a humour-magazine rival of the famous Punch.