Lot Essay
The makers have kindly confirmed that the guns were completed on 23 January 1908.
The Maharajah of Cooch Behar
Colonel H.H. Maharajah Sir Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur GCIE CB (1862-1911)
During the Maharajah's short life (he died at the age of 49) he established himself quickly as a keen soldier, anxious always for active service in the field, and, in addition, as an outstanding sportsman. In the latter he was regarded as first among the then ruling Chiefs of India. On one occasion, a highly regarded sporting journal in India enthusiastically described him as "a first rate shot, a keen shikari, an enthusiastic turfite, a crack polo player, and adept at rackets and lawn tennis, and at indoor games such as whist and billiards, hard to beat." His annual shooting parties were for many years celebrated events in the Indian sporting world, and he owned the largest and most varied collection of Indian sporting trophies ever gathered together. In 1909 he published the record of his long experience of sport in the jungle under the title 'Thirty-seven Years of Big Game Shooting', showing his record to be 365 tigers, 311 leopards, 438 buffaloes and 207 rhinoceroses. He maintained a splendid stud of racehorses and his Australian thoroughbred Highborn won the Viceroy's Cup two years in succession. The Maharajah lived his life with the greatest intensity and it was felt probable, at the time, that his great devotion to manly sport was a cause of the breakdown of his constitution and early death.
Please see also lots 81, 89, 91, 94, 111 and 191
The Maharajah of Cooch Behar
Colonel H.H. Maharajah Sir Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur GCIE CB (1862-1911)
During the Maharajah's short life (he died at the age of 49) he established himself quickly as a keen soldier, anxious always for active service in the field, and, in addition, as an outstanding sportsman. In the latter he was regarded as first among the then ruling Chiefs of India. On one occasion, a highly regarded sporting journal in India enthusiastically described him as "a first rate shot, a keen shikari, an enthusiastic turfite, a crack polo player, and adept at rackets and lawn tennis, and at indoor games such as whist and billiards, hard to beat." His annual shooting parties were for many years celebrated events in the Indian sporting world, and he owned the largest and most varied collection of Indian sporting trophies ever gathered together. In 1909 he published the record of his long experience of sport in the jungle under the title 'Thirty-seven Years of Big Game Shooting', showing his record to be 365 tigers, 311 leopards, 438 buffaloes and 207 rhinoceroses. He maintained a splendid stud of racehorses and his Australian thoroughbred Highborn won the Viceroy's Cup two years in succession. The Maharajah lived his life with the greatest intensity and it was felt probable, at the time, that his great devotion to manly sport was a cause of the breakdown of his constitution and early death.
Please see also lots 81, 89, 91, 94, 111 and 191