HISTORIC CRUISING
The Heritage Collection runs to some 25,000 items, with more than 200 ship models, 600 paintings, 15,000 photographs and numerous other pieces, from film and silverware to postcards and even ship’s bells.
the company in 1897 and is probably the most valuable work in the collection. Interestingly, in 1865 Sutherland founded the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd, known today as HSBC. One of the most spectacular pieces is
the 4ft silver candelabrum presented to Arthur Anderson by the Company in 1855. Weighing 770oz, it is part of a dinner service commissioned at a cost of £1,500. The detail is remarkable and shows Poseidon holding a trident at the base of a pair of entwined date palms, at the top of which is a winged goddess holding Mercury’s staff. Neptune is looking down at a cherub resting on a steam piston and a robed lady holding a map of India and the Far East.
Anderson bequested the service to P&O, along with £1,000 to fund an
annual dinner to celebrate the formation of the company, and it was used as the centrepiece for many a grand occasion.
E
qually impressive is the ornate gar- niture de cheminée, consisting of a French silver mantel clock and a pair
of tall vases, presented to P&O in 1865 by the ruler of Egypt, Ismail Pasha. The clock, made by Froment Meurice & Cie, is shaped like an ancient Egyptian temple held by sphinxes on a red porphyry base. The gilt clock hands are papyrus
stems while the clock is covered with hieroglyphs and ancient symbols. This gift was in recognition of the financial assistance P&O had given to Egypt with its infrastructure, especially the Alexandria-
Suez railway, as it developed the all- important overland route to the Red Sea. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869
was not only one of the most significant events in P&O’s history, it also posed a great threat. Although it was now able to operate ships all the way to India and the Far East, the Canal allowed foreign competitors to enter the market. However, P&O was soon considered
the Postman to the Empire, especially “Down Under.” The company played a major role in Australian emigration and, in 1910, started the aptly titled Branch Line, a third-class service to Australia. Various posters were produced for this, including a fine painting of one of these rather austere ships by prolific marine artist Frank Mason. In 1918, P&O acquired a controlling interest in its main rival to Australia, Orient Line, which had been running passenger ships from London since 1878. Despite this take-over, Orient continued to operate as a separate company under the Anderson family until 1960. Orient Line was always more innovative
than the rather conservative P&O. Its 1935-built Orion was one of the most influential British liners of the 20th
century.
The company also used many well-known contemporary painters, including poster artist Abram Games, whose ability to communicate with simple designs was second to none. The 41,915-ton Oriana of 1960 was
1:48 Scale builder’s model of the
passenger/cargo liner SYRIA displayed at DPWorld offices, Palace Street
Orient’s final ship and, like new rival Canberra, was a showpiece for British art and design. John Piper’s Landscape of the Two Seasons, a vast oil on canvas, was the centrepiece of Oriana’s Princess Room and is now on loan to The River & Rowing Museum at Henley.
96 WORLD OF CRUISING I Winter 2012-13
Photo by David Morris © P&O Heritage
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