Portrait photograph signed by FM Douglas Haig with letters dated 1919

[The Great War] HAIG, Field Marshal Douglas (1861-1928). Signed photograph with related correspondence, 1919
 
Original sepia photograph showing Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig on horseback passing troops, signed by Haig in bold blue ink at the lower edge. Photograph approximately 230 x 180 mm, mounted within its original grey paper presentation folder, 380 x 260 mm. The photograph with pronounced silver mirroring to the darker areas, particularly apparent when viewed obliquely, but presenting clearly when viewed directly; light toning and surface wear. Haig's signature remains strong and unaffected. The folder with light creasing and handling wear. Good. 
 
Together with four related pieces: two typed letters signed by Haig's private secretary, Lieutenant-Colonel John Herbert Boraston, on "G.H.Q. The Forces in Great Britain, Horse Guards, London, S.W.1" letterhead, dated 21 June and 29 July 1919, each approximately 190 x 230 mm and folded for posting; the original small "On His Majesty's Service" envelope for one of the letters; and the larger original "On His Majesty's Service" envelope addressed to Y. Minami, care of Okura & Co. Ltd., 30 Church Street, New York City. The larger envelope is heavily creased and worn at the edges, with contemporary British postage stamps and official G.H.Q. markings.
 
Haig commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from December 1915 until the end of the First World War. The survival of the accompanying correspondence and postal material gives the photograph particularly clear provenance, recording the process by which Minami obtained Haig's signature directly through his headquarters.