A Whiting Mfg. Co. Silver Acid Etched Two-Handled Trophy, New York, circa 1886. Marks: WHITING MF'G. Co., NEW YORK, (W-g...

Description

A Whiting Mfg. Co. Silver Acid Etched Two-Handled Trophy, New York, circa 1886
Marks: WHITING MF'G. Co., NEW YORK, (W-griffin), STERLING, 2239
10-1/2 x 11-1/2 x 7-1/4 inches (26.7 x 29.2 x 18.4 cm)
63.16 troy ounces
Inscription: BEST FOUR-IN-HAND TEAM, FIRST PRIZE, NHSAOFA 1886, Won By, MR. PIERRE LORILLARD.

American Presentation and Trophy Silver from the Collection of J.D. Parks

PROVENANCE:
Bonhams, New York, January 24, 2013 lot 1080;
Acquired from above.

The double-bellied tulip form vase with acid etched image of four-in-hand team and inscription to front and reverse, rolled undulated rim, S-form double-leaf handles terminating in a horse hoof emerging from foliate burst at top and attaching to applied chrysanthemum and foliate band above reeded foot.

This first place cup, presented by the National Horse Show Association of America (NHSAofA), was won by Pierre Lorillard's four-in-hand team; a carriage drawn by four horses and driven by one person. The show held the first week of November was the fourth annual exhibition of the NHSAA with prizes totaling $16,135 (New York Times September 1, 1886, page 8).


Pierre Lorillard IV had wide ranging interests, as was the case for many of New York City's wealthy of the Gilded Age. He was a tobacco manufacturer, active in society abroad and at home, building The Breakers in Newport, which he sold to Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1882. He was an adventurer, funding exploration in South America, the developer of Tuxedo Park in Orange County New York, and a thoroughbred horse owner and breeder.

He founded Rancocas Farm in the 1870s, located in Westampton Township, New Jersey, and built it into a premier breeding and training center for racehorses, trotters, and carriage horses. In 1881, Lorillard achieved international renown, when his horse Iroquois became the first American owned and bred horse to win the English Derby at Epsom Downs. A NY Tribune article in 1886 refers to Lorillard's team,"...there is nowhere in the world handsomer or better appointed drags, drawn by finer coaching horses, than in New-York. This was quite evident at the Horse Show last November, when Pierre Lorillard's four beautiful bays received the first prize."



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