The Opening of the Suez Canal, 1869, large silver medal of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez, by Louis-Oscar Roty, draped figures of Labour, named, bearing a savings jar, and Peace, seated, identified by her attributes the torch, cornucopia and olive branch, aerial view of the canal and perhaps Mount Sinai beyond, L’EPARGNE FRANÇAISE PREPARE LA PAIX DU MONDE [French savings prepare world peace], rev. COMPAGNIE UNIVERSELLE DU CANAL MARITIME DE SUEZ, LE 17 NOVEMBRE 1869 LE CANAL MARITIME A ETE OUVERT A LA GRANDE NAVIGATION, named cartouche on oak spray: THOMAS SUTHERLAND MP ADMINISTRATEUR, Sphinx and pyramid below, 60mm, 94.72g Extremely fine with cabinet tone, of the highest historical significance.

Provenance:
Bought Baldwin’s of Saint James’s Auction 10, 22 September 2017, lot 3135 (Peace therein described as Commerce)
Ex A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd (the original company) historic basement stock
Ex Glendinings, 26 March 1942, lot 157

Sutherland began his career at P & O SNCo in 1852 at the age of 18 and was sent East in 1854, first to Bombay then to Hong Kong. He had become superintendent of P & O’s Japan and China agencies by the age of 26 and was appointed a member of the Hong Kong legislative assembly. While still an agent for P & O, in 1864-65, he formed the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank [HSBC] - the first bank in China - serving as a director on its provisional board, then as deputy chairman. He was recalled to London in 1866, where he continued to be promoted through the ranks of P & O and was appointed Chairman in 1880. He retired from that company in 1915. At a by-election in Greenock in 1884 he was elected a member of parliament. He served as Greenock’s M.P. until 1890 and while in that position he played a significant role in the development of the Suez Canal. He became a director of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez in 1885 and it is perhaps for that occasion that the medal was presented. In 1903 Sutherland became one of three vice-presidents in the company. He was created a KCMG in 1891 and a GCMG in 1897. He became a knight of the Order of St John and a member of the Légion d’Honneur. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the City of London, and the University of Aberdeen honoured him with an LLD in 1892. (Thomas Sutherland: A Great Victorian, by Malcolm Sutherland. Leiston, Suffolk: Leiston Press, 2010).