MADRAS - A MATCHED PAIR OF INDIAN BEAKERS
P. ORR & SONS, LATE 19TH CENTURY
Estimate: £600 - £800
Auction: The Fiona Buchanan Indian Silver Collection | Wednesday 4th March at 10am
Description
Each of tapered form, engraved presentation inscription to body ‘WELLINGTON RACES/ MAY 1884…’ (2)
Dimensions
12cm high, 13.4oz (combined)
Footnote
Orr & Sons was formed by Peter Nichols Orr who had be apprentice to Peter Lambert of Berwick and Montrose, one of the many Scottish trained goldsmiths who followed the expansion and wealth of the empire in search of fortune.
Peter arrived in Madras in 1843 and became a partner in George Gordon & Co (another expat Scottish maker) whom he would work until the form closed in 1848 and he returned to Europe.
Around 1851 Peter returned to Madras and worked for himself as a watchmaker establishing his business which in 1854 would take on his son James Edward Orr as apprentice and as partner in 1860 creating P Orr & Sons. In 1861 Robert Gordon Orr, brother of James, succeeded in the partnership. The business still continues today with twelve branches, surely the longest established silversmithing and jewellers in India whose legacy continues.