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拍品專文
Examples of pictorial engraving on Colonial silver are rare, and those relating to horse racing are rarer still. The sport was introduced to America by the English Governor Richard Nicolls in the 1660s on Hempstead Plain, Long Island. In 1669, Nicolls's successor, Governor Francis Lovelace, proclaimed that these races were "not so much for ye divertisement of ye youth alone but for ye Encouragement of ye bettering ye breed of horses."
Race winners commonly received cash, raised by subscription, or a silver punch bowl. Two trophy punch bowls are illustrated in David Warren et al., Marks of Achievement, 1987, nos. 50 and 53 and pp. 27-28. An unmarked bowl, attributed to New York, relates closely to this example, as it is engraved with horse and rider. The bowl is inscribed "This, Plate Won By A Horse, Cald, Old Tenor Belonging to Lewis Moris, Junr, October, ye, 11, 1751," and is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another punch bowl by John Inch, Annapolis, lacks pictorial engraving but cites a specific race: "Annapolis Subscription Plate 4d May 1743." It is now in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. The English tradition of presenting a two-handled cup as a prize was less common in the Colonies, but the present cup was almost certainly a race prize as it cites a specific horse and date.
Race winners commonly received cash, raised by subscription, or a silver punch bowl. Two trophy punch bowls are illustrated in David Warren et al., Marks of Achievement, 1987, nos. 50 and 53 and pp. 27-28. An unmarked bowl, attributed to New York, relates closely to this example, as it is engraved with horse and rider. The bowl is inscribed "This, Plate Won By A Horse, Cald, Old Tenor Belonging to Lewis Moris, Junr, October, ye, 11, 1751," and is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another punch bowl by John Inch, Annapolis, lacks pictorial engraving but cites a specific race: "Annapolis Subscription Plate 4d May 1743." It is now in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. The English tradition of presenting a two-handled cup as a prize was less common in the Colonies, but the present cup was almost certainly a race prize as it cites a specific horse and date.