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MARK OF JOSEPH BRAHAM, LONDON, 1887,
Details
GORDON OF KHARTOUM INTEREST:- A VICTORIAN NOVELTY SILVER-GILT & HAWKSBILL TURTLE-SHELL CHEROOT BOX,
MARK OF JOSEPH BRAHAM, LONDON, 1887,
Realistically modelled as a turtle, the shell forming the cover & base, the hinged cover applied with 2 Chinese cut-out gold characters phonetically spelling "Gordon", the head set with coloured glass eyes, 17 in. long (43 cm.)
MARK OF JOSEPH BRAHAM, LONDON, 1887,
Realistically modelled as a turtle, the shell forming the cover & base, the hinged cover applied with 2 Chinese cut-out gold characters phonetically spelling "Gordon", the head set with coloured glass eyes, 17 in. long (43 cm.)
Special notice
VAT rate of 17.5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.
Further details
General Charles George Gordon C.B.(1833-1885) was nicknamed "Chinese Gordon" before he became known as "Gordon of Khartoum". He initially went to China as an officer in the Royal Engineers in 1860 during the Second Opium War where he was present at the occupation of Peking & the sacking of The Summer Palace. Later he took command of "The Ever Victorious Army", a European-officered Chinese force raised to fight the Taiping rebels, finally defeating them with the aid of Imperial troops at Chanchoofoo, for which he was made a Celestial titu or generalissimo, the highest rank in the Chinese Imperial Army, by the Emperor, in 1864. The British promoted him to Lieutenant-Colonel & made him a Companion of the Bath. Later he served as Administrator of the Sudan (1874-80), where he was instrumental in suppressing the slave trade, returning in 1884, under instruction from Gladstone, to evacuate the Europeans & the Egyptian garrison from Khartoum which was threatened by the advancing Mahdist army. Sadly Khartoum was overrun & Gordon killed in 1885 before the British Relief Column could reach him. Presumably this box was made from some other piece that had originally been presented to Gordon & which had incorporated the turtle-shell.