THE EMPEROR'S PLATE, 1851
A MAGNIFICENT VICTORIAN SILVER RACING TROPHY IN THE FORM OF A WINE CISTERN
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more THE PROPERTY OF A DESCENDENT OF THE 2ND EARL OF STRAFFORD
THE EMPEROR'S PLATE, 1851 A MAGNIFICENT VICTORIAN SILVER RACING TROPHY IN THE FORM OF A WINE CISTERN

MARK OF ROBERT GARRARD, LONDON, 1851, AFTER A DESIGN BY EDWARD COTTERILL

Details
THE EMPEROR'S PLATE, 1851
A MAGNIFICENT VICTORIAN SILVER RACING TROPHY IN THE FORM OF A WINE CISTERN
MARK OF ROBERT GARRARD, LONDON, 1851, AFTER A DESIGN BY EDWARD COTTERILL
The oval bombé bowl supported on four robust scrolling foliage feet, the front applied with the Russian Imperial arms, the rim applied with a cast crown surmounted by an orb, each side with a finely cast handle, modeled as a dragon with wings extended, the back plate engraved with a Latin inscription and surmounted by a realistically cast scene of a covered sledge pulled by a horse and with another in hand, being attacked by a pack of five wolves, the driver fending off the wolves with his whip as the passenger fells a wolf with his pistol while protecting his female companion, all in a snowy landscape in the manner of the Russian painter Nikolai Egorovich Sverchkov (1817-1898), applied with the date '1851', the reverse later engraved with three coats-of-arms within a cartouche and below an earl's coronet, fully marked, contained in a two door oak case applied with a brass plaque inscribed 'HEIRLOOMS GEORGE STEVENS EARL OF STAFFORD NO. 14', the inside of each door applied with a label, each printed with the Royal coat-of-arms, R. & S. Garrard and Co. and with details of their Royal warrant, one further inscribed in an unknown hand 'Chest No. 14 A large chased silver Font of Cistern with Group of Wolves attacking travellers'
32¾ in. (83 cm.) high
35½ in. (90 cm.) maximum width
915 oz. (28,466 gr.)
The inscription reads 'Ludorum Ascotiensium Memor Quibus Ipse Interfuisset Reginae Victoriae Hospes Mens Jun MDCCCXLIV Solenne Certaminis Equestris Praemium Instituit Nicolaus Totius Russiae Imperator' which translates as 'Nicholas Emperor of all Russia, established a prize for an equestrian contest, remembering Ascot races, at which he himself had been present as a guest of Queen Victoria in June 1844.'

The coats-of arms are those of Byng for George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1806-1886) who succeeded his father in 1860, flanked by Paget and Cavendish for his two wives. The shield on the dexter of the Byng coat is for his first wife Lady Agnes Paget, 5th daughter of the 1st Marquess of Anglesey whom he married in 1829 and died 1845. The shield on the sinister side is for his second wife Harriet Elizabeth, younger daughter of Charles Compton Cavendish, later Baron Chesham of Chesham, Co. Bucks, whom he married in 1848.
Provenance
The Emperor's Plate Ascot 1851, paid for by the Emperor Nicolas I of Russia (1796-1855) and won by Mr Campbell's Woolwich
Acquired by the 2nd Earl of Strafford (1806-1886) almost certainly between 1860 and his death and then by descent to the present owner
Literature
The Times, 2 June 1851, p. 5f

The Illustrated London News, 6 June 1851, vol. 17, p.8, pl.57

Copy of the Inventory of Plate The Property of The Right Honourable The Earl of Strafford made in 1888 by Messrs R. and S. Garrard & Co., Haymarket. Rearranged with the contents of each box in order dated 1891. Chest 14 'A large chased silver Font of Cistern with group of wolves attacking travellers (Russian)'
Special notice
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Lot Essay

THE EMPEROR'S PLATE, 1845-1853

In 1844 the Emperor Nicholas I of Russia was invited by Queen Victoria to attend the Ascot Races and this he did in company with the Queen's consort, Prince Albert, the King of Saxony, the Duke of Wellington and Count Orloff among others. According to the Illustrated London News of the day he paid great attention to the races and, indeed, appears to have enjoyed them so much he subsequently offered to pay 500 sovereigns for a piece of plate to be awarded as the Ascot Gold cup. This he did from 1845 up to and including 1853 and it was renamed in his honour the Emperor's Plate. Following the outbreak of the Crimean war in March 1854, "the principle prize", as the Illustrated London News succinctly put it, was "called the Ascot Cup and not the Emperor's Vase".

The series of prizes paid for by the Emperor are astonishing and must rank as some of the most spectacular and imaginative race prizes ever commissioned. They were all massive, weighing close to a 1000 ounces each and many between three and four feet high. A brief description of them gives some idea of just how much their form varied :

1845 A centrepiece based on Falconet's well known sculpture of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, the base flanked by Russian equestrian troops. Designed by E.H. Bailey and supplied by Hunt and Roskell

1846 A thirteen light-candelabrum with St George slaying the dragon. Designed by E.H. Bailey and supplied by Hunt and Roskell.
Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, The Glory and the Goldsmith, Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, Christie's London, 1989, pp. 222-223.
Christie's New York, 11 April 2003, lot 206

1847 A two-handled rococo vase on plinth with scenes of Russian military victories. Designed by E.H. Bailey., drawn by Howard and modelled by Brown and supplied by Hunt and Roskell

1848 A circular shield centred with Peter the Great and chased with scenes of his life. Said to have been designed by the Earl of Granville presumably in conjunction with E.H. Bailey and supplied by Hunt and
Roskell

1849 A centrepiece of the death of Hippolytus. Designed by E. Cotterrill and supplied by R. & S. Garrard and Co.

1850 A ewer cast and chased with scenes from the Labours of Hercules. Designed by E. Cotterill and supplied by R. & S. Garrard and Co.
Exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. An illustration of the cup in the 1851 catalogue is reproduced in J. Culme, Nineteenth Century Silver, London, 1977, p. 158

1851 A wine-cistern, the present lot. Designed by E. Cotterill and supplied by R. & S. Garrard and Co.

1852 A (?) seven-light candelabrum, the theme taken from Sir Walter Scott's Thomas the Rhymer.
Designed by E. Cotterrill and supplied by R. & S. Garrard and Co.

1853 A two-handled vase with cover on plinth with scenes derived from the history of the horse.
Designed by A. Vechte and supplied by Hunt and Roskell


THE DESIGNER EDMUND COTTERILL

The designer of the 1851 Emperor's Plate, Edmund Cotterill (1795-1860) joined Garrards as the head of the design studio in 1833 and worked for them until his death. He was responsible for a considerable number of sculptural groups including examples, like the 1852 Emperor's Plate, based on the novels of Sir Walter Scott. It has been noted that many of his designs incorporated horses, which he excelled at modelling (John Culme, op. cit. p. 96).
There can be little doubt that Cotterill was supplied, perhaps by the Russian ambassador, with a print source for the elaborate group surmounting this cistern. Although a number of Russian artists painted such genre scenes, Cotterill's group is so similar to the paintings and prints of Nikolai Egorovich Sverchkov (1817-1898) as to suggest that he was working from an early unrecorded print by the Russian artist who, like Cotterill himself, was renowned for his superb images of horses.


THE 1851 PRIZE AND THE RACE

The Times of June 2, 1851 says of the Ascot race cups of that year:

'The cups to be contended for this week on Ascot-heath support the reputation of the artists and manufacturers who have been employed in the modelling and construction of them and they are good specimens of native skill and talent. The principle one, the Emperor of Russia's vase is modelled by Mr. Cotterill and manufactured by Messrs. Garrard, goldsmith to the crown, Haymarket. It is a shell-shaped cistern for cooling wine, supported on scrolls, which rest on a base of ebony and surmounted by a group representing a sledge attacked by wolves.'

The Illustrated London News also describes the cups in much the same tone and illustrates them.
Under the date Tuesday June 5th 1851 it states that:

'A PIECE OF PLATE value 500 sovereigns, the gift of the Emperor of Russia
Won by
Mr Campbell's Woolwich, the property of two or three parties connected with the "Ring"
.'


THE WINNER AND HIS OWNERS

Woolwich was a chestnut colt foaled in 1846 by Chatham out of Clementina by Actaeon. He was bred by Mr Wyatt and began racing in 1847 for Mr Francis Nicoll. From 1851 he raced in the name of a series of owners, namely Mr Campbell, Mr Barber and Mr J. Saxon. For the Emperor's Plate run on 5 June 1851, he was second favourite to Little Jack but, ridden by Job Manson and, racing in Mr Campbell's name,
won by a length. For the rest of his career his owners tended to alternate between the four mentioned above (i.e. the "Ring" mentioned in the Illustrated London News, op. cit.).

Having collected a £140 in prize money it is not surprising that they might have passed on their elaborate and highly fashionable trophy for cash. Unfortunately, it is not recorded when the 2nd Earl Strafford acquired this astonishing piece but it must have been sometime between when he succeeded in 1860 and his death in 1886.

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