A pair of bonework plaques depicting fretwork Chinese pavilions. Two figures are hanging up lanterns inside each pavilion and beneath are two crossed fans depicting a heron and a bluebird. The items were made by Ernest Edwin Russell RND (1890-1963) while interned at Groningen, Netherlands during World War One.

The Royal Navy Division (RND) was made up of two naval brigades and a brigade of marines formed from surplus personnel from the naval reserves. After brief training the RND was sent to defend Antwerp alongside Belgian forces in the opening stages of the war. Fifteen hundred men crossed the Dutch frontier and were interned in the Netherlands to avoid capture by the Germans, the remaining survivors embarked for Dover. Russell spent October 1914 to November 1918 in a camp nicknamed 'Timbertown' being briefly repatriated for an appendix operation in 1916. Internees passed their time taking part in sports and producing handicrafts for commercial sale. Ernest Russell won a medal for his entry at an Arts and Crafts exhibition.