Cup and Cover, (Racing trophy, The Doncaster Cup), silver, London hallmarks for 1857-58, mark of Charles Frederick Hancock, designed by Henry Hugh Armstead.

Racing Cup with trumpet shaped foot decorated of foliage to which are belted three half-length winged, female figures representing the sisters of Meleager, who were changed into birds while bewailing the fate of their brother. Shallow bowl has cast frieze of three scenes from the story of Meleager (Ovid, Metamorphoses, VIII, 260-546) each separated from the next by a head of Diana.
1st scene: Oeneus, King of Calydon, arranging sacrifices to gods in thanks for a fruitful harvest but omitting altar of Diana.
2nd scene: Meleager, his son, & Atlanta hunting the boar sent by Diana to ravage the kingdom.
3rd scene: Meleager's mother, Althaea, is seen to be tossing a log onto the funeral pyre of her two brothers whom (she was told by the Fates at Meleager's birth that he would live until a particular log had been burnt) Meleager had slain in argument over his presentation of a boar to Atalanta after the hunt.

Acquisition RF: 90/1278

This cup was the prize in the Fitzwilliam Stakes run on Tuesday 15 September 1857, the first day of the St. Leger meeting. It was won by three-year old thoroughbred, Vedette, whose name is inscribed on the ebony base. On Sunday 20 September, The Era newspaper reported that 6-4 favourite Vedette, owned by Lord Zetland and ridden by jockey Challoner, 'shot to the fore' just before the final bend and 'came halfway along the distance with a clear length's lead or everything else in the race.' In the home straight, Black Tommy made his charge and a 'most splendid struggle ensued between the pair, 'but Black Tommy was not enabled barely to get beyond Vedette's girths, and was by the latter beaten cleverly by a neck.'

Designs for mid 19th-century race cups often bore little relation to their function, but were romantic, historicist vehicles for sculptors and silversmiths to demonstrate their craft. The press lauded them. '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 ... It may indeed be called a national art, and a national manufacture, by which such beautiful and classic illustrations of ancient fables, and of historical events, have been made the means of decorating vases, cups and such like prizes', claimed the Illustrated London News in 1850.

The Doncaster Cup of 1857 was designed by Hugh Henry Armstead, one of the first graduates of the new government schools of design established to reform Britain's design and improve the quality and quantity of Britihs products. The cup was, according to the Illustrated London News, a 'superb work of art' in which 'the artist ... returns to the 'Cup' in its most classic form, but with finely modelled figures prominent in its ornamentation. In other words, the Doncaster cup of this year, is a tazza, in silver, surmounted by a group, which ... illustrates the ... story of Meleager's Atalanta, from the 'Metamorphoses' of Ovid' ... The poet's story is here exquisitely told in oxydised and burnished silver.'

In Greek legend, Meleager set out to hunt a wild boar, sent by the goddess Diana to ravage the countryside, after Meleager's father, Oeneus, King of Calydon, had offended her. Atalanta, whom Meleager loved, struck the first blow, so when the boar was killed Meleager presented it to her. A dispute followed, during which Meleager killed his two uncles. His mother then threw a log of wood representing Meleager onto a fire, as the Fates had decreed he would die when the log was consumed. The group on the lid of the cup shows Meleager presenting the boar to Atalanta.

The importance of designers and sculptures to the silversmith was at its most pronounced during this great age of trophy production. The designer, Hugh Henry Armstead, studied in the School of Design at Somerset House and at the Royal Academy before working as a designer, modeller and chaser of silver for Hunt and Roskell and Hancocks.

This magnificent silver cup is a horse racing trophy. Known as the Doncaster Cup, it was awarded to Vedette, the winner of the Fitzwilliam Stakes run on Tuesday 15 September 1857. The Era newspaper reported that 6-4 favourite Vedette, owned by Lord Zetland and ridden by jockey Challoner, 'shot to the fore' just before the final bend and 'came halfway along the distance with a clear length's lead or everything else in the race.' In the home straight, Black Tommy made his charge and a 'most splendid struggle ensued between the pair, 'but Black Tommy was not enabled barely to get beyond Vedette's girths, and was by the latter beaten cleverly by a neck.'

Hugh Henry Armstead (1828-1905), who designed the cup, was a leading sculptor and silverware designer in the 1850s and 1860s. Here he drew on the Greek myth of Atalanta and Meleager. The story, which is engraved on the rim, culminated in Meleager presenting the body of a wild boar to Atalanta. This is the scene depicted by the group of figures at the top of the tazza-shaped cup.

Designs for race cups in the period 1840-1860 often bore little relation to their function. Such pieces were more often vehicles for sculptors and silversmiths to demonstrate their craft by depicting romantic versions of historical subjects.

M.65 to B-1990