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P&O and British India Lines Passenger Services
P&O and British India Lines Passenger Services

P&O and British India Lines Passenger Services

Artist (1870 - 1933)
Lithographer (British)
Publisher (1862 - 1972)
Publisher (British, founded 1837)
Date1925
Object number00006903
NamePoster
MediumColour lithograph on paper
Copyright© P&O Heritage
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection
Collections
DescriptionAn advertising poster by J Spurling titled 'P&O and British India Lines passenger services'. A colour screen print featuring the central image of two ships passing each other on the Suez Canal, Egypt. Below the image is the list of P&O British India Line destinations: Egypt, India, Persian Gulf, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Mauritius, Straits, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Port Sudan, East and South Africa. The chief passenger offices for P&O and BI in London as well as their agent's office in Marseilles, France.HistoryP&O was founded in 1837 when the partnership of Wilcox and Anderson secured a contract to carry the mails from the UK to the peninsular ports Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon, Cadiz and Gibraltar. In 1840 the company secured a new contract to extend the service to Alexandria in Egypt, and in 1844 this contract was extended to Madras, Ceylon, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. P&O established the Far East route to Australia in the 1850s, when it took over from less efficient services such as the East India Company. The work is typical of that produced during this period listing services and incorporating a ship portrait. As ships became more streamlined and powerful companies commissioned state of the art design work that emphasised a more Modernist style. P&O established this significant route to Australia in the 1850s when it took over from less efficient services such as the East India Company.SignificanceThe poster is representative of the transition between traditional ship portrait compositions popular in the early 20th century and later Modernist-inspired designs. It is also an important document recording one of the ways in which travel was marketed to both national and international audiences.