Lot 534

Description

Cigarette case, in silver (127mm x 87mm) (175 gms) with gold leaf lined interior, with ornately raised pattern of dragons on the front and the initials "AGC" on a central shield, and birds in a bamboo garden on the reverse. Very fine.

This lot and the following three lots relate to a significant person in the field of engineering. Mr A.J. Corbett, born at Inverness in 1873 and educated in Scotland, qualified on 31 October 1898 with the Board of Trade as a First Class Engineer in the Merchant Service. He had two stints of service with engineering companies in Singapore, one of which involved two years service in Bangkok. After a third engagement in Singapore he resigned and opened his own engineering business in Bangkok, A.J. Corbett & Co. Some of the important works undertaken by this firm include the Menam Bridge for the Royal Siamese State Railways, the Engine Sheds for the same government department and the Yek Bridge constructed in 1908. Alexander Corbett and his wife, Isabella, left Thailand to settle in Australia and he died in Tasmania in 1925.