A 20th Century Indian silver reticulated model of a fish, with pink inset eyes, in original fitted hinged case, the underside inscribed Presented to

A 20th Century Indian silver reticulated model of a fish, with pink inset eyes, in original fitted hinged case, the underside inscribed Presented to The Islington Corinthian F.C., London, 7th December 1937, Jamalpur, Bihar, 13.5cm long Islington Corinthians was founded in 1932 by Tom Smith, the purpose to raise money for the local charities. The club was part of the London Professional Mid Week League, where they competed against the reserve teams such as Arsenal, Fulham, Chelsea. After a friendly match played against the Chinese Olympic at Highbury 1936. The team made up of the best ethnic Chinese players from different parts of China as well as South-Eastern Asia, the match ending in a 3-2 victory for the Corinthians. The visitors extended a casual invitation for a rematch in their country and the idea was hatched for a world tour which now has become the stuff of Boys Own football folklore. The tour stretched over the 1937–38 football season, playing in fourteen countries, Netherlands, Switzerland, Egypt, India, (from which this lots relates), Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, China, Japan, Hawaii, the United States and Canada. They took part in ninety-five games, winning sixty-five of them, an amazing feat, considering the amount of travelling the team faced between the matches. By mid-November the Islington Corinthians had reached Indian to begin what would become their busiest leg of the world tour. Playing against some of the top Indian teams of the day and travelling all through Indian not only the major cities but frontiers as well and playing in front of up to 77,000 spectators. They played thirty-one matches winning twenty-five of them and losing only once.