$27,000
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
The Collection of Victor Niederhoffer
Auction: June 19, 2019 11:00:00 AM EDT
In the form of two duelling medieval knights, raised on a silver-mounted ebonized wood base mounted in silver "GOODWOOD. 1879;" each piece marked.
H: 30 1/4 in., W: 23 1/4 in., D: 19 in. Weighable silver: 306 oz. t.Provenance: The Collection of Victor Niederhoffer.
The Goodwood Cup, established in 1808, is run at the Goodwood Racecourse in West Sussex in late July or early August of each year. It is one of the three races that comprise the "Stayers' Triple Crown," along with the Gold Cup and the Doncaster Cup.
This trophy was awarded to the bay thoroughbred Isonomy (1875-1891) for his victory in the Goodwood Cup in 1879. Though at one point in the race down by over 200 yards, Isonomy closed the gap in the final stages to win by three lengths. Ridden by jockey Tom Cannon, Sr. (English, 1846-1917) and trained by John Porter (English, 1838-1922)--among the most successful horse trainers of Victorian England--Isonomy was considered one of the century's greatest racehorses. He won ten of his fourteen starts, many coming in his fourth year, 1879, when he won the Gold Vase, the Ascot Gold Cup, the Ebor Handicap, and the Doncaster Cup, along with the Goodwood Cup that same year. Isonomy placed third in a poll of the "best British racehorses of the 19th century" conducted by The Sporting Times in May, 1886.
The present lot was produced by Garrard likely after a design by Harrison Weir (English, 1824-1906). A celebrated naturalist and illustrator, Weir provided a number of elaborate trophy designs for Garrard from the 1860s through the 1880s. A related example depicting Robin Hood, designed by Weir and executed by Garrard for the 1865 Stewards' Cup at Goodwood, was sold Christie's New York, May 19, 2010, lot 94.