MARK OF JOHN SAMUEL HUNT AND ROBERT ROSKELL, LONDON, 1884

Details

THE ROYAL HUNT CUP, ASCOT, 1884
A VICTORIAN SILVER CENTREPIECE
MARK OF JOHN SAMUEL HUNT AND ROBERT ROSKELL, LONDON, 1884
Formed as Robin Hood and his band, depicted standing on a rocky mound after a successful stag hunt, the dead stag surrounded by standing figures of Friar Tuck and Little John, Maid Marion sitting to one side, pouring wine from a jug, watched by a dog, while another huntsman kneels by the stag and another reclines, holding a wine-cup up in toast to Robin Hood, who stands on the top of the mount blowing his hunting horn, a dog at his feet, all on a ebonised wood plinth, applied in silver on one side 'Royal Hunt Cup, Ascot, 1884' and on the other 'Won by Acrostic', marked on base
23½ in. (60 cm.) wide
500 oz. (15,550 gr.)

Provenance

Won by Robert Jardine's Acrostic at Ascot Races on 11 June 1884.
Sir Robert Jardine 1st Bt. of Castlemilk (1825-1905)
A Georgia Collector; Christie's, New York, 29 April 1987, lot 399.

Literature

The Glory of the Goldsmith, Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, 1989, p. 230.

Exhibited

London, Christie's, The Glory of the Goldsmith, Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, 1989, no. 178.

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

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Lot Essay

The Ascot meeting of 1884 was marred by heavy rain. The Royal Hunt Cup which was valued at a princely £500, was won, to the surprise of the Illustrated London News' reporter and most of the race goers, by Mr. Jardine's Acrostic, 6st. 5lb. 'A field of fifteen is the smallest that has ever taken part in the Royal Hunt Cup [a field of sixteen is recorded], and there seemed to be every chance that the Duke of Richmond (8st.) or Quicklime (8st. 3lb.) would get back some of the money that had been lost in the week. However, the City and Suburban winner was never really dangerous, and though Duke of Richmond made a gallant fight from the distance, he was not quite good enough for the turned-loose Acrostic... One cannot grudge Mr. Jardine his success, as Acrostic had been a sadly disappointing animal; still, it is not satisfactory to see a crack three-year old like Duke of Richmond succumb to a colt to whom he was attempting to give a year and 23lb.' (Illustrated London News, 14 June 1884).

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