VINTAGE P&O, SILVER PLATED OCEAN LINER STEAMSHIP COMPANY, SUGAR SIFTER / SHAKER

DATED AROUND 1930'S

16CM HIGH

GOOD USED CONDITION, WITH SOME WEAR, MARKS, SCRATCHES AND DINTS.

Marked P & O AND Mappin & Webb, TO THE BASE - C3 / 85

P&O

In 1834, Brodie McGhie Willcox, a ship broker from London, and Arthur Anderson, a sailor from the Shetland Islands, formed an association with Captain Richard Bourne, a steamship owner from Dublin. In 1837, the trio won a contract and began transporting mail and passengers from England to the Iberian Peninsula, founding the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. In 1840, the company merged with the Transatlantic Steam Ship Company and expanded their operations to the Orient, becoming the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). In 1844, P&O expanded its passenger operations from transportation to leisure cruising, operating sailings from England to the Mediterranean that were the first of their kind. By the mid-1900s, passenger shipping for the purposes of transportation was threatened by the increasing affordability of air travel. Consequently, in the 1970s, P&O dedicated its passenger operations entirely to leisure cruising and, in 1977, relisted its passenger ships under the new subsidiary P&O Cruises.

Mappin & Webb is a jewellery company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Mappin & Webb traces its origins to a silver workshop founded in 1775. It now has retail stores in the UK. It has held Royal Warrants to British monarchs since 1897. The company's master craftsman Mark Appleby is the current Crown Jeweller of the United Kingdom.

Mappin & Webb traces its origins to 1775, when Jonathan Mappin opened a silver workshop in Sheffield, then as now a major centre of the English silver trade. The business eventually became Mappin Brothers.[2]

One of Jonathan Mappin's great grandsons, John Mappin, started his own business in London, Mappin & Company, in 1860, which became Mappin, Webb & Co. in 1862 after John Mappin was joined by his brother-in-law George Webb. The first Mappin & Webb store opened in 1860 at 77-78 Oxford Street, London and the company’s candelabras, fine silverware and vanity products swiftly gained renown. As a natural progression from silverware, Mappin & Webb began designing jewellery. Mappin, Webb & Co. acquired Mappin Brothers in 1903. However, shortly after it was subject to a hostile takeover (through shares) in the 1930's. Since then it has passed ownership many times.

Mappin & Webb expanded internationally beginning in the 1890s. Its first overseas store was established in Johannesburg and stores soon followed in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Biarritz, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Cairo and Bombay. However all international stores closed in the second half of the 20th century.

Mappin & Webb has created jewellery for royalty both in the United Kingdom and internationally. Patrons have included Queen of France Marie-Antoinette, the Empress of Russia and Princess Grace of Monaco. The company historically held Royal Warrants to both the Russian Empire and the Japanese Royal Household. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to commission Mappin & Webb. Victoria's Golden Jubilee necklace was created by the house in 1888 and was designated by the queen as an heirloom of the Crown. Mappin & Webb has held Royal Warrants in the UK since 1897. Today, Mappin & Webb holds warrants to both the Queen and the Prince of Wales. Mappin & Webb’s master craftsman Martin Swift was appointed in 2012 to the position of Crown Jeweller, the custodian of the British Crown Jewelswho is responsible for preparing them for the State opening of Parliament and other state occasions.

The brand produced the original Ryder Cup trophy, and made trophies for the Royal Ascot horse races for 75 years.