An exceptionally early sporting trophy: a 1701 Irish Horse Racing Trophy
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An exceptionally early sporting trophy: a 1701 Irish Horse Racing Trophy,
possibly the oldest sporting trophy ever to have been offered at public auction, the auctioneer can find no record of any earlier object, in the form of a silver ½ pint tankard hallmarked Isaac Dighton, London, 1700, engraved with a depiction of a racehorse and jockey, the band beneath the rim inscribed “All ye Course in ye Ryne in Thomond ye 14th of May. This plate was won by ye 3rd horse Anno Domi 1701”, height 10cm., weight 205gr.
Provenance: The tankard was once owned by the Westropp Family of Ballysteen House, Ballysteen, Co. Limerick.
The River Rine rises in County Clare in Ireland and runs through the village of Quin before reaching the Shannon Estuary. A racecourse was recorded at Quin and it is believed that this is the location where the race was run in 1701.
Other early sporting trophies offered at auction would include the 1713 York Gold Cup, a horse racing trophy donated by Queen Anne, sold at Christie's, and now in the Fairfax House Collection in York. Another recorded sale was of a Scottish silver snuff mull presented as a prize for an archery competition at Kilwinning in 1721.
The oldest extant sporting trophy, never sold commercially, is the Carlisle Bell (Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery), a horse racing trophy dating to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1559.