| omschrijving | Royal National Lifeboat institution silver bowl commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the R.N.L.I. 1824-1974 and the 'St George' rescue of 1830.
The outer silver border, polished to a mirror finish, is decorated with stylised storm waves. The silver-gilt central roundel, designed by Ian Ribbons in high relief, depicts the rescue of the crew of the paddle steamer 'St. George' of Douglas, Isle of Man, on 20th of November 1830.
It is inscribed on the base: 'NUMBER 597 OF A LIMITED EDITION OF 750 MADE BY ORDER OF THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION TO COMMEMORATE THEIR ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY IN 1974. The scene depicts the rescue of the crew of the St George off Douglas, Isle of Man, on 20 November 1830 by volunteers led by Sir William Hillary, founder of the Institution. Aurum'.
The bowl is in a leatherette case (PLT0710.1) embossed with the RNLI crest. There is also a small pamphlet with historical information (PLT0710.2) Each bowl is individually numbered, with an authenticating certificate signed by the Director of the RNLI, Captain Nigel Dixon. The St George rescue was chosen for the central design because it is the most famous of the personal exploits of the RNLI's founder Sir William Hillary, a regular member of the Douglas crew.
The pamphlet describes the rescue and the depiction on the bowl: 'The St George Rescue. In the bay of Douglas, Isle of Man, before dawn on 20 November 1830, in rising storms, the chain of the anchored mail steamer 'St George' gave way and she was hurled on to St Mary's Rock. Sir William Hillary and seventeen other volunteers pulled for the wreck in an open boat. After failing to approach from windward, ignoring the selfless entreaty of the captain of the 'St George' that they should not even attempt so perilous a course, they backed between the steamer and the rocks. In rolling seas, the lifeboat's rudder was beaten off, six of her ten oars smashed and her upper works badly damaged. Sir William Hillary, swept overboard, was taken from the water with six of his ribs broken. For two hours, in worsening seas, men fought to extricate the boat to leeward. Finally, she was cast off. Twice she pounded on the rocks but the violence of the sea swept her over the reef and, mercifully, drove her broadside on to the sheltered side of St Mary's Rock. Every man of the 'St George's' crew of twenty-two was saved’.
In the bowl's centre, Hillary's boat, launched from the bay behind the old lighthouse on the pier, is approaching between St Mary's Rock and the wreck which, bows down, is heeling over to starboard. Her foremast lies entangled across the starboard side. A ship's boat, lowered from the starboard davits, has been crushed; a sailor is climbing back to the steamer's poop. The reefed mainsail has torn loose against the shrouds; the crew shelter by the stern weather rail while heavy seas break over the wreck. Hillary is assisting the coxswain at the stern steering oar; behind, a crewman is paying out a stern anchor line; two others are fending off with oars from ridges of rock to the right; in the bows a man is hailing the 'St George'.
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