TWO SILVER SHIP’S NAPKIN RINGS, EARLY 20TH CENTURY from Eld...

Estimate

£250 - £350

TWO SILVER SHIP’S NAPKIN RINGS, EARLY 20TH CENTURY

from Elder, Dempster’s Abosso & Elmina, hallmarked Sheffield, 1915 & 1911 and with enamelled company flag; together with a silver vesta case from Elder, Dempster’s Jebba, hallmarked Sheffield, 1902; a circular silver pill box, hallmarked Birmingham, 1920, with enamelled arms on the lid for the Orient Line’s Orvieto; an Elders & Fyffes silver and enamel spoon; and a plated menu holder of the Orient Line

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Abosso was built in 1912 for the Liverpool – West Africa service but her career was cut short when she was torpedoed by U-43 west of Fastnet on 14^th April 1917. The engine-room damage from the torpedo prevented the ship from being stopped and she circled for over an hour at almost full speed before finally sinking; 65 lives were lost; Elmina was built in 1906 and scrapped in 1949; Jebba was built in 1896 as the Belgian Albertville but acquired by Elder, Dempster in 1898. On 18^th March 1907, she was wrecked on the Devon coast when homeward bound from West Africa but all aboard her were saved by bosun’s chair to the nearby cliff top; Orvieto was built in 1909 for the Orient Line’s Australian service, laid up in 1929 after twenty years of service and scrapped in 1931.

Enamel loss on Elmina napkin ring.