Henderson – Silver & Ivory

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To be certain, silver and ivory Henderson bagpipes are among the most coveted around the world. Because of their hallmarks, we are able to get a sense of the evolution of Henderson bagpipes over the years. Although many claim “1880” or earlier when describing their Henderson bagpipe, the earliest for which I have documentation is Don Bradford’s exceptional full ivory set with the original receipt signed by Peter Henderson in 1895. We then move to John Grant’s full silver set hallmarked 1902 and George Dey’s full aluminum set that is pre-1906 according to his descendants. We have several sets that are hallmarked and others that line up with these very early examples. The Henderson bagpipes directly below are interesting. The silver on the one set was done by William and George Neal of London and is hallmarked 1906. It is made of ABW. The other set has no hallmarks and could easily be taken for sterling silver, however I believe that this is Sheffield Plate. The silver tested “sterling” however you can see areas where the base metal is showing through the silver. Caps are pinned on both sides and the profiles all line up with the ABW 1906 set. This set is made of cocuswood.

Just as an aside, I have encountered two other bagpipes with William and George Neal silver. One set is full silver Unknown #56. I believe this bagpipe to have been made by J & R Glen, however I really can’t see enough to be certain. The other set is a Peter Henderson bagpipe also Hallmarked 1906 (below). It’s currently in the shop for gentle restoration. I’ll have more pictures soon. The gentleman pictured is the original owner.

An early Henderson bagpipe in silver and ivory is one of the most desired of all bagpipes. The combination of the outstanding sound and performance of early Henderson bagpipes along with elephant ivory mounts and hand-chased silver can be breathtaking. Henderson employed their own silversmiths and, although we don’t know their names, the complexity and quality of their work is at the very top of the art. Hallmarks help us to establish the date of manufacture although they cannot be taken as 100% accurate. Bagpipes were sometimes silvered after they were initially made. We have to consider other factors when establishing a probable date of manufacture.

The set immediately below quite unique. It was a presentation set where the plaque is hallmarked 1915 and refers to a presentation date of 1916. The silver fittings are hallmarked 1914 and are cast. Actually they were cast in pieces and soldered together and then had additional detail “chased” throughout.

This set surfaced recently and is just an exceptional example of an early Peter Henderson bagpipe. The silver is hallmarked 1914. The engraving is superb and entirely unique in my experience. The bass drone stock also shows evidence of bearing a plaque at one point in time. No doubt this was a very special set.

The bagpipe below has stocks with the same cast silver ferrules as the set above. The rest of the bagpipe has very old silver without hallmarks. Although probably from two different sets of Henderson pipes, I believe that both the stocks and drones were probably made around 1910.

These last few pictures are of Henderson Bagpipes from the 1940’s and 1950’s. The 1959 Henderson belongs to Bruce Gandy and is an outstanding instrument. Of course, being Bruce Gandy helps.