This Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund Sword (below) was presented in 1804 to Robert Torin, commander of the Honourable East India Company’s (HEIC) ship Coutts. As detailed in the presentation inscription, the Coutts was among a fleet of merchant ships that in January 1804 sailed from Canton with a cargo of tea, silk and porcelain valued at over £8m, the equivalent today of over £600m. When met by a French squadron, four of the merchant ships exchanged fire, an action which likely saved both the HEIC and Lloyd’s of London from financial ruin.
The £50 Lloyd’s swords given to Torin and his fellow captains were the only ones ever presented to Merchant Navy officers and uniquely have the ship’s name and the date engraved on the scabbard. Torin took command of the Coutts around 1796. He numbered among his friends John Constable and in 1803 the painter joined the Coutts from the Medway to Deal. On the journey Constable completed nearly 130 sketches. Peter Finer prices the sword at a six-figure sum.
