A Victorian silver gilt Trophy Ewer, presented for the King's Cup, Royal Yacht Squadron Reg...

A Victorian silver gilt Trophy Ewer, presented for the King’s Cup, Royal Yacht Squadron Regatta, Cowes 1901, Won by Rupert Guinness’s ‘Leander’, the ewer by Robert Garrard, London 1875, the base by James Garrard (R & S Garrard & Co), London 1899, the ewer modelled after John Flaxman’s design for Wedgwood, entitled ‘Sacred to Neptune’, the triton, representing Water, its arms encircling the neck of the ewer, before a dolphin’s mask, suspending a festoon of rushes to either side, with entwined handle, the body engraved with the inscription: ‘WON BY RUPERT GUINNESS’S ‘LEANDER’, AUGUST 10TH’, with lobed decoration below, knopped stem and fluted spreading foot, the ewer mounted on a square section silver gilt pedestal plinth, applied to one side with the Royal Coat of Arms, the front engraved with presentation inscription: ‘ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON REGATTA COWES 1901. THE GIFT OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING.’, the plinth stamped ‘R & S GARRARD & CO. HAYMARKET. LONDON’, height of ewer: 44cm, height of plinth: 14.5cm. £4,000-£5,000 --- ‘Leander’ In the 1880s, yachting had become a popular sport amongst the aristocracy, led by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, with Cowes Week becoming the focus of lavish entertainment and competitive racing. The Guinness family took to the new sport with enthusiasm. The Hon. Rupert Guinness himself was a keen yachtsman, and member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Rupert Guinness owned the fine 98-ton, 90 foot yawl named Leander designed by Arthur E. Payne, and built by Messrs. Summers and Payne in the winter of 1889/1900. On 10 August 1901, Rupert Guinness won the prestigious King’s Cup at the Royal Yacht Squadron Regatta, Cowes with Leander. The Sphere Magazine, issue dated 17 August 1901, (an illustrated weekly magazine first published in 1900), printed a photograph of Leander in full sail, captioned beneath: ‘THE “LEANDER”, WINNER OF THE KING’S CUP AT COWES Five yachts, including the German Emperor’s “Meteor” started on Saturday for the King’s Cup, which was won by the Hon. Rupert Guinness’s yawl, “Leander”. She is a fine typical cruiser designed by Payne and built in the winter of 1899-1900, but launched early this year on the return of Mr. Guinness from the front.” The following year in June 1902, Leander was placed second in the Heligoland Cup, the Dover to Heligoland yacht race, (the brainchild of King Edward VI’s cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm, a race open to any cruising yachts of over 70 tons, being a member of any of the Royal or recognised British yacht clubs, built in Britain and owned by a British subject). Leander also competed in the Cowes’ King’s Cup the same year, finishing fourth, the winner being Brynhilde owned by Sir James Pender. Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness (1874-1967) was the eldest of three sons of Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, the wealthy Anglo-Irish brewing family. Rupert was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Eton he had a brilliant rowing career, winning the School Sculling in 1892, rowing in the Eton Eight of 1893, which won the Ladies Plate at Henley. He won the Diamond Sculls at Henley in 1895, and again in 1896, and the same year he also won the Wingfield Sculls, making him the undisputed leading amateur oarsman of his day. Rupert Guinness saw active service between 1899-1900 in the Boer War. He was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the CMG in 1901. In 1928, on the death of his father, he became the 2nd Lord Iveagh, taking up the family seat of Elveden Hall, Thetford, Norfolk, (his father had purchased the property in 1894 from the executors of the will of the Maharaja Duleep Singh, following his death in 1893). A businessman, politician and philanthropist, Rupert Guinness was to take a keen interest in agricultural and medical research, and amongst Rupert’s many achievements number the founding of the Guinness World Records, first published in 1955 and an annual publication now published in more than 100 countries and 37 languages. * * * The design of the Trophy Ewer offered here for sale is one of a pair entitled ‘Sacred to Neptune’, and ‘Sacred to Bacchus’, representing Water and Wine, after John Flaxman, the plaster models supplied by Flaxman to the factory of Josiah Wedgwood in March 1775. The ornamental ewers were produced in different coloured clay bodies, including black basalt and blue and white jasper. These designs were, in turn, based on bronzes from the French sculptor, Michel Sigisbert-François (1728-1811). An example in black basalt can be seen at the V & A Museum (on display in Room 138), circa 1840, after the model made in 1776.