THE RICHMOND CUP: A fine George III silver-gilt cup and cover
By Robert Sharp & Daniel Smith London 1771, retailed Pickett& Co
Vase-shaped and raised on a concave fluted foot, the lower section chased in high relief with frosted acanthus leaves with two oval medallions with bead and husk borders; one depicting two horses, jockeys and grooms and the other a race between two horses, the upper section of cup chased with ribbon linked cast and applied husk swags, leaf-capped scroll handles, engraved around the rim on either side "Sir John Lawson Bart & John Byron Esq., Stewards", "Richmond cup 1784", the separate gadroon-edge cover with fluted "mushroom" top applied with cone finial, the cover also with husk swags, the cup sits on a George IV cushion collet foot with bayonet fastening, by William Eaton, London 1822, with a wide band of narrow flutes and florettes, height 49.7cm, weight 120oz.
Vase-shaped and raised on a concave fluted foot, the lower section chased in high relief with frosted acanthus leaves with two oval medallions with bead and husk borders; one depicting two horses, jockeys and grooms and the other a race between two horses, the upper section of cup chased with ribbon linked cast and applied husk swags, leaf-capped scroll handles, engraved around the rim on either side "Sir John Lawson Bart & John Byron Esq., Stewards", "Richmond cup 1784", the separate gadroon-edge cover with fluted "mushroom" top applied with cone finial, the cover also with husk swags, the cup sits on a George IV cushion collet foot with bayonet fastening, by William Eaton, London 1822, with a wide band of narrow flutes and florettes, height 49.7cm, weight 120oz.
Estimate:
£50,000 - 70,000
€58,000 - 82,000
US$ 75,000 - 110,000
€58,000 - 82,000
US$ 75,000 - 110,000
Footnotes
- Provenance: Sir John LISTER-KAYE (born July 1725, died November 1789), 5th bart. One-time high sheriff of Yorkshire. Lived at Grange, Kirkeaton parish, Yorkshire. Breeder and owner of race horses. Succeeded by his half-brother, Sir Richard Kaye, a protestant minister notable for offering free smallpox vaccinations to his parish during an outbreak.
Thence by descent.
The race was won by Sir John's PHENOMENON, a chestnut stallion, foaled in 1780, sired by Byerley Turk and out of Frenzy by Eclipse. He ran in top company, failed to place in the Derby but won the St Leger and, later, the Doncaster Cup and the Richmond Cup. (We are grateful to Thoroughbred Heritage for the form).
William Pickett entered his mark as smallworker in 1769. From 1758, he had been partner (and brother-in-law) to William Theed in the goldsmiths and silversmiths, Golden Salmon. Theed retired in 1768 and it was not until 1777 that Pickett took Phillip Rundell as partner. Of course, the firm went on to be the Royal Goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. Pickett appears to have acted as retailer for this cup, as he did for the Wells Cup of 1772, now in Carnegie Museum of Art (inv. 85.8.A-B). The present lot is unusual in that it was not made in the year that the race was run and that it has a later foot.
Category: Decorative Arts / Silver
Auction terms and conditions
Contacts
Michael Moorcroft
Bonhams
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