MARK OF GEORGE W. SHIEBLER & CO., NEW YORK, CIRCA 1900

The present lot was either gifted to or acquired by Mr. Frederick Gilbert Bourne (1851-1919) and his wife Mrs. Emma Sparks Keeler Bourne (1855-1916) in celebration of the anniversary of their 25th wedding anniversary in 1900. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Bourne attended public school in New York before beginning work at the Atlantic Submarine Wrecking Company at the age of 14 in order to support his widowed mother and younger sisters. As a member of the Mendelssohn Glee Club, Bourne became friends with Alfred Corning Clark, who's father Edward Cabot Clark was co-founder of the Singer Company along with Isaac Merritt Singer. in 1880 Bourne was invited to join the Clark family's real estate company as construction manager of The Dakota on West 72nd along Central Park. Bourne continued the relationship, serving as manager of Edward Clark's estate upon his death in 1882, secretary of the Singer Company in 1889, and finally the fifth president of the company later that year. As president, Bourne oversaw the initial phases of construction of the company's headquarters, an early skyscraper in New York and the tallest building in the world from 1908-1909, as well as the expanded global production and international sales of the Singer sewing machine, using installment plans to make the sewing machine a household item. Following his retirement in 1905, Bourne was created a baronet by King George V in the 1921 Birthday Honors for his services to the welfare of industrial workers.
Married on 9 February 1875, Bourne's wife, Emma Sparks Keeler, was the granddaughter of Commodore Davidson, one of the founders of the New York Yacht Club. Bourne shared this enthusiasm for yachting, serving as Commodore of the New York Yacht Club himself.