The 1873 Ascot 'Gold Cup': a Victorian silver centrepiece candelabrum

Robert Garrard, London 1873

Footnotes

The current lot is one of the largest and finest examples of the Victorian craze for diorama racing trophies. They first became popular in the 1840s and were typically manufactured by the leading silversmiths at the time: Garrard and Hunt & Roskell, the former employing designers and modellers such as Edmund Cotterill and William F. Spencer.
One commentator in 1850 was highly impressed by that year's Ascot trophies and reported:
'In no branch of the Fine Arts have the artists of this country made greater progress than in the art of modelling statuettes, and more particularly in modelling groups in which horses and animals are introduced; and in nothing have the artisans employed in the higher branches of manufacture reached a higher reputation than in the manufacture of the designs of artists in the precious metals. It may, indeed, be called a national art, and a national manufacture, by which such beautiful and classic illustrations of ancient fables and historical events have been the means of decorating vases, cups, and such prizes...

Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492) had married John Grey, a Lancastrian knight who was later killed in the Second Battle of St Albans during the War of the Roses. The legend goes that she waited under an oak tree in Whittlewood Forest hoping to meet King Edward IV while he was out hunting. When he passed by Elizabeth threw herself at his feet and pleaded for the return of her late husband's estate which had been confiscated by the Yorkist forces. The king was so taken with her beauty that he attempted to persuade her to become his mistress. She replied, 'My liege, I know I am not good enough to be your queen, but I am far too good to become your mistress.' The king was so moved by the entreaty that he proposed marriage, the first king to have married one of his subjects since the Norman Conquest and was the first such consort to be crowned queen.

The story appealed to the Victorians who saw it as a fine example of motherly devotion and marital purity, and it served as the subject in Ambrosini Jerome's 1838 painting 'Lady Jane Grey, pleading to Edward IV'.

Cremorne (1869–1883) was one of the most successful colts of his generation, becoming the second of six horses to win both The Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris. His victories at Ascot in 1873 were to be his last, having developed a swollen hock shortly afterwards. In 1886 a poll ranked him as the 11th best racehorse of the 19th century.
Cremorne was buried in the grounds of Rufford Abbey by his owner Captain Henry Savile, and his gravestone can still be seen today. The unusual act was done in gratitude: Savile had been heavily in debt and wagered his family estate on Cremorne winning the 1872 Derby. He was the second favourite in a field of 23, and after running neck and neck with Pell Mell through the final stages Cremorne prevailed by a head.