Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A Victorian gold propelling pen/pencil by Sampson Mordan & Co., engine-turned and signed, the shaft engraved ‘T.Gordon, Christmas 1868’, with ring attachment, together with a Victorian gold plated engine-turned propelling pencil the terminal inset with carnelian intaglio, with motto ‘L’AMITIÉ’ above clasped hands, first length extended 12.2cm, second 8.7cm. (2) £200-£300

Provenance: Formerly the property of General Sir Thomas Edward Gordon


General Sir Thomas Edward Gordon (1832-1914), was a British intelligence officer, director of the Imperial Bank of Persia from 1893 to 1914 and reputedly the first person to use the term ‘Middle East’ when referencing Persia and Afghanistan. Joining the army aged seventeen, Gordon campaigned on the British/Indian north west frontier, serving during the Indian Mutiny, was second in command of the mission to Kāšgar in Chinese Turkestan (1873-74) and fought in the Second Afghan War in 1879. He became Oriental and military secretary at the British Legation in Tehran in 1889 and, in 1891, military attaché. He retired from active duty in 1893 but continued to be involved in Persian affairs until shortly before in death in 1914.