Origins of Sports
See also : Sport in art Sport memorabilia Sport memorabilia II Baseball Horse Sport document Sport rewards and medals Birth of automobile 18th century painting Autograph Ancient prints Canada UK II George I-III Paris
Chronology : 18th century 1760-1769 1810-1819 1850-1859 1870-1879 1892
Chronology : 18th century 1760-1769 1810-1819 1850-1859 1870-1879 1892
1765 Portrait of a Champion by Stubbs
2011 SOLD 22.4 M£ including premium
Serving wealthy English aristocrats, George Stubbs specialized in the topic of race horses. On December 8, 2010, Sotheby's sold £ 10.1 million including premium a very elegant study of mares and foals in a meadow, painted in 1767.
Made around 1765, the oil on canvas for sale by Christie's in London on July 5 is certainly more outstanding. It is estimated £ 20M. This is the portrait of a horse named Gimcrack, who was winning most of the races where he was engaged.
This broad composition, 102 x 196 cm, simple and effective, is divided into two parts. On the left, Gimcrack shows his beautiful profile, surrounded by a coach, a stable boy and a jockey.
A race is held on the horizon, on the right. A horse is far ahead of his three followers. He is also Gimcrack, of course. He is therefore shown twice on that image that had everything to flatter the sponsor of the work, Lord Bolingbroke, owner of the champion.
Stubbs is very accurate in anatomical detail, but still shows horses galloping with their four legs flying above the ground. This feature, which can be excused one century before the studies of Muybridge, applies here only in the background and provides this work with an undeniable poetic dimension.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold £ 22.4 million including premium, Gimcrack has once again won his race.
Made around 1765, the oil on canvas for sale by Christie's in London on July 5 is certainly more outstanding. It is estimated £ 20M. This is the portrait of a horse named Gimcrack, who was winning most of the races where he was engaged.
This broad composition, 102 x 196 cm, simple and effective, is divided into two parts. On the left, Gimcrack shows his beautiful profile, surrounded by a coach, a stable boy and a jockey.
A race is held on the horizon, on the right. A horse is far ahead of his three followers. He is also Gimcrack, of course. He is therefore shown twice on that image that had everything to flatter the sponsor of the work, Lord Bolingbroke, owner of the champion.
Stubbs is very accurate in anatomical detail, but still shows horses galloping with their four legs flying above the ground. This feature, which can be excused one century before the studies of Muybridge, applies here only in the background and provides this work with an undeniable poetic dimension.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold £ 22.4 million including premium, Gimcrack has once again won his race.
#GeorgeStubbs was born #OTD in 1724. We sold Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath in 2011 for £22,441,250 #WorldAuctionRecord #artistbirthday pic.twitter.com/B7fCB2eivD
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) August 25, 2017
< 1798 The Social Life of Golf
2015 SOLD for £ 720K including premium
Golf is a Scottish tradition as well as whisky and haggis. When King James VI became James I of England, his son and his courtiers went to practice their sport on a field near London, at Blackheath. These sporting events were the origin of a society that is still active today, the Royal Blackheath Golf Club.
Sport was not the subject of a media report as it is today, and the oldest archives date back to the late eighteenth century. Most members of that time are Scots. The rules and offices are defined, including a secretary who manages the life of the society and a captain who guarantees the quality of the ground.
Henry Callender devotes much of his life to Blackheath where his involvement is so appreciated by his friends that he will receive the exceptional title of Captain General of the club. His portrait was painted by Lemuel Francis Abbott. This oil on canvas 223 x 138 cm that decorated the club up to now is estimated £ 600K for sale byBonhams in London on December 9, lot 47.
Callender is full length standing in his Blackheath attire with medals and epaulettes. The painting cannot be earlier than the first office held by Callender in 1790 or subsequent to the retirement of Abbott in 1798 although some decorations may have been added after the later date.
The player is equipped with a club and a putter. A putter from the same ancient model is offered in the same sale as lot 48, estimated £ 50K. It also belonged since a long time to the Royal Blackheath Golf Club and the assumption that it is the example illustrated by Abbott is quite plausible.
RESULTS including premium :
painting : £ 720K
putter : £ 62K
Sport was not the subject of a media report as it is today, and the oldest archives date back to the late eighteenth century. Most members of that time are Scots. The rules and offices are defined, including a secretary who manages the life of the society and a captain who guarantees the quality of the ground.
Henry Callender devotes much of his life to Blackheath where his involvement is so appreciated by his friends that he will receive the exceptional title of Captain General of the club. His portrait was painted by Lemuel Francis Abbott. This oil on canvas 223 x 138 cm that decorated the club up to now is estimated £ 600K for sale byBonhams in London on December 9, lot 47.
Callender is full length standing in his Blackheath attire with medals and epaulettes. The painting cannot be earlier than the first office held by Callender in 1790 or subsequent to the retirement of Abbott in 1798 although some decorations may have been added after the later date.
The player is equipped with a club and a putter. A putter from the same ancient model is offered in the same sale as lot 48, estimated £ 50K. It also belonged since a long time to the Royal Blackheath Golf Club and the assumption that it is the example illustrated by Abbott is quite plausible.
RESULTS including premium :
painting : £ 720K
putter : £ 62K
1816 The Beast won !
2013 SOLD 1.9 M$ including premium
Joselito in 1920, Manolete in 1947: in the corrida de toros, it happens even to the greatest matadores to be defeated by the bull. Goya has honored one of the most oustanding, Pepe Illo (or Hillo), killed by the toro Barbudo in the plaza of Madrid on 11 May 1801.
Goya himself had practiced bullfighting. He had admired Illo, who was with Pedro Romero one of the great reformers of that art. Horrified as we know by wars, Goya could not fail to devote a full set of prints to this deadly game in which the man was not always the winner.
La Tauromaquia is the saga of the corrida de toros, published in 33 prints by Goya in Madrid in 1816, and showing the feats and death of Illo. The aquatints were prepared by drypoint, and two of them are enhanced by a wash.
A complete original set, remarkably homogeneous, is estimated $ 400K, for sale by Christie's in New York on April 9. Images on an oblong sheet 28 x 40 cm are accompanied by a page on the same paper with the handwritten list of titles. The set is assembled in a binding of that time. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
For ancient and modern prints, perfect examples of the most prestigious editions have no price limit. They are works of art in their own right: $ 1.9 million including premium.
Goya himself had practiced bullfighting. He had admired Illo, who was with Pedro Romero one of the great reformers of that art. Horrified as we know by wars, Goya could not fail to devote a full set of prints to this deadly game in which the man was not always the winner.
La Tauromaquia is the saga of the corrida de toros, published in 33 prints by Goya in Madrid in 1816, and showing the feats and death of Illo. The aquatints were prepared by drypoint, and two of them are enhanced by a wash.
A complete original set, remarkably homogeneous, is estimated $ 400K, for sale by Christie's in New York on April 9. Images on an oblong sheet 28 x 40 cm are accompanied by a page on the same paper with the handwritten list of titles. The set is assembled in a binding of that time. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
For ancient and modern prints, perfect examples of the most prestigious editions have no price limit. They are works of art in their own right: $ 1.9 million including premium.
1816 The Image Ledger of the Duc de Mirepoix
2017 SOLD for £ 510K including premium
The duc de Laval, from the de Montmorency family, died in 1837. His daughter and her husband, the duc de Mirepoix from the de Lévis family, inherited the castle and its contents and his Spanish title of duque de San Fernando Luis.
During an inventory the descendants inspect an old ledger forgotten in a bookshelf since the mid-19th century. In this large pre-printed volume, almost all pages have been used to paste an image. An inscription inside the cover by an unidentified craftsman indicates that this operation was to cost 5 fr 50 c to M. de Mirepoix.
The discoverers are not excited by the 90 hand-colored lithographs of military uniforms by Hippolyte Bellangé but this beginning leads to a treasure : the complete series of the 33 etchings of La Tauromaquia by Goya. They appreciate that the ledger was used because its 54 x 36 cm size enabled to install these 30 x 45 cm sheets with their full margin.
La Tauromaquia was published by Goya in 1816, shortly after the return of the Bourbon dynasty in France and Spain. Laval is the French ambassador to Spain from 1814 to 1823.
The theme of the death-fight between beast and men allows the artist to escape the censorship that already threatens his favorite social themes. Goya is very familiar with the details of a corrida and his images show the full variety of the action. The fact that the toro is not always the loser is an underlying political message.
Goya is a master of all engraving techniques. In 1799 the beautiful sepia tones of his aquatints of Los Caprichos are masterpieces. La Tauromaquia is printed in dark ink with very beautiful contrasts brought by the aquatint.
Maintained in very fine condition thanks to its very long storage without handling, the image album of the duc de Mirepoix isestimated £ 300K for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 4, lot 34.
A complete set in 28 x 40 cm sheet size of La Tauromaquia with the addition of a handwritten list of the images in a binding contemporary to the edition was sold on April 9, 2013 by Christie's for $ 1.9M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 400K.
During an inventory the descendants inspect an old ledger forgotten in a bookshelf since the mid-19th century. In this large pre-printed volume, almost all pages have been used to paste an image. An inscription inside the cover by an unidentified craftsman indicates that this operation was to cost 5 fr 50 c to M. de Mirepoix.
The discoverers are not excited by the 90 hand-colored lithographs of military uniforms by Hippolyte Bellangé but this beginning leads to a treasure : the complete series of the 33 etchings of La Tauromaquia by Goya. They appreciate that the ledger was used because its 54 x 36 cm size enabled to install these 30 x 45 cm sheets with their full margin.
La Tauromaquia was published by Goya in 1816, shortly after the return of the Bourbon dynasty in France and Spain. Laval is the French ambassador to Spain from 1814 to 1823.
The theme of the death-fight between beast and men allows the artist to escape the censorship that already threatens his favorite social themes. Goya is very familiar with the details of a corrida and his images show the full variety of the action. The fact that the toro is not always the loser is an underlying political message.
Goya is a master of all engraving techniques. In 1799 the beautiful sepia tones of his aquatints of Los Caprichos are masterpieces. La Tauromaquia is printed in dark ink with very beautiful contrasts brought by the aquatint.
Maintained in very fine condition thanks to its very long storage without handling, the image album of the duc de Mirepoix isestimated £ 300K for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 4, lot 34.
A complete set in 28 x 40 cm sheet size of La Tauromaquia with the addition of a handwritten list of the images in a binding contemporary to the edition was sold on April 9, 2013 by Christie's for $ 1.9M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 400K.
How a rare set of Goya etchings were discovered in a French castle. Now, they're going up for auction: https://t.co/Obk63Iqt9q pic.twitter.com/S4dktNxBxQ
— As It Happens (@cbcasithappens) March 13, 2017
Son 33 los grabados de #Goya que se han encontrado en un castillo del Loira francés y que subastará @Sothebys #LOart pic.twitter.com/veWvgUFXeW
— L´Officiel Art (@LOfficielArtES) March 12, 2017
1857 The Laws of the Knickerbockers
2016 SOLD for $ 3.26M including premium
They like playing ball in New York and Brooklyn. Teams are built. Some clubs are created. The nineteenth century saw the rapid development of transport. Soon the groups of players will make longer trips to play their matches.
The spirit of competition requires fixed rules that will identify champions who will defend their title in the following season. In England, football has a similar story at the same period.
The activist of the standardization of base ball, which will later become the baseball, is the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club established in 1845 and named after the uniforms of the firefighters who lent to them their playing field.
The Knickerbockers were not the best in sport but they had the merit of endeavoring to impose their rules. They were also one of the two teams that played the first official match in 1846 and the first base ball club to use a distinctive uniform in 1849.
In 1857 in New York, the first congress of the National Association of Base Ball Players establishes the first regulatory body and freezes the rules that will remain virtually unchanged for ever, ending the initiatives of the Knickerbockers.
A set of three manuscripts that were almost unnoticed in an auction in 1999 gives a new vision on the fundamental and even unique role of the Knickerbockers in defining the final baseball laws.
In 1857 the President of the Knickerbockers is Doc Adams who had been a player in the 1846 pioneering game. The three documents are the first autograph draft written by Adams in 1856 (the last page is missing), an iteration annotated by him before the congress and the final laws submitted to Congress and approved.
These documents are grouped as the lot 1 in the online auction organized by SCP Auctions with bidding close out on April 23. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.
The spirit of competition requires fixed rules that will identify champions who will defend their title in the following season. In England, football has a similar story at the same period.
The activist of the standardization of base ball, which will later become the baseball, is the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club established in 1845 and named after the uniforms of the firefighters who lent to them their playing field.
The Knickerbockers were not the best in sport but they had the merit of endeavoring to impose their rules. They were also one of the two teams that played the first official match in 1846 and the first base ball club to use a distinctive uniform in 1849.
In 1857 in New York, the first congress of the National Association of Base Ball Players establishes the first regulatory body and freezes the rules that will remain virtually unchanged for ever, ending the initiatives of the Knickerbockers.
A set of three manuscripts that were almost unnoticed in an auction in 1999 gives a new vision on the fundamental and even unique role of the Knickerbockers in defining the final baseball laws.
In 1857 the President of the Knickerbockers is Doc Adams who had been a player in the 1846 pioneering game. The three documents are the first autograph draft written by Adams in 1856 (the last page is missing), an iteration annotated by him before the congress and the final laws submitted to Congress and approved.
These documents are grouped as the lot 1 in the online auction organized by SCP Auctions with bidding close out on April 23. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.
We are record setters here at SCP #Auctions. Remember when we sold The Laws of Baseball for over $3,000,000? We’d love to help you with your #sports #memorabilia in our Summer Premier Auction. Send in your #consignments before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/jVT7YCG3vh
— SCP Auctions (@SCPAuctions) July 7, 2019
1857 Football was born in Sheffield
2011 SOLD 880 K£ including premium
They were much playing ball in England in the mid-nineteenth century. Each community had its own laws, a situation that did not disturb anyone because inter-club competition was not yet existing.
Particularly dynamic since its creation in 1857, the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club immediately established a working group to standardize the sport. On October 28, 1858, a set of eleven rules was adopted. Sheffield succeeded where other clubs had failed: in 1863 the new Football Association confirmed the game as it was played in Sheffield.
The club sells its archives on July 14 at Sotheby's in London.
The documents contain the official records of the club with the minutes of meetings and the first accounts of games. They include, of course, the oldest handwritten version of the rules of football, but also the only known copy of the first printed edition (1859).
It is an extraordinary set for the knowledge of sports history, so important as an input to social history as a whole. The estimate, £ 800K, seems low.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was well targeted. Sold £ 880K including premium, the lot has remained around the low estimate.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Sotheby's.
Particularly dynamic since its creation in 1857, the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club immediately established a working group to standardize the sport. On October 28, 1858, a set of eleven rules was adopted. Sheffield succeeded where other clubs had failed: in 1863 the new Football Association confirmed the game as it was played in Sheffield.
The club sells its archives on July 14 at Sotheby's in London.
The documents contain the official records of the club with the minutes of meetings and the first accounts of games. They include, of course, the oldest handwritten version of the rules of football, but also the only known copy of the first printed edition (1859).
It is an extraordinary set for the knowledge of sports history, so important as an input to social history as a whole. The estimate, £ 800K, seems low.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was well targeted. Sold £ 880K including premium, the lot has remained around the low estimate.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Sotheby's.
1872 Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne by Manet
2004 SOLD 26.3 M$ including premium by Sotheby's
Link to catalogue.
1891 Ball and Basket for Indoor Sport
2010 SOLD 4.3 M$ including premium
Basketball (originally spelled Basket-Ball) is a sport of flexibility and skill. It was created in 1891 in the United States, a little late compared to other competitive sports whose growth is linked to the development of transportation.
By design, it is not a rough sport. The idea of the inventor, the Canadian James Naismith, was to occupy without risk of injury the sportsmen in winter, when weather conditions do not allow to play baseball or football.
The elevated position of the baskets gives a specific interest to this sport that does not invite to physical contact. One can argue whether similar sports existed before basketball and inspired Naismit. No matter: the basketball based on his thirteen rules has become one of the most popular sports due to the simplicity of its required equipment.
Naismith had typed these thirteen rules, in two sheets that he modified by hand writing and signed. His family, who had kept this precious document, sells it at Sotheby's in New York on December 10 for the benefit of a Canadian foundation that spreads the ideals of sportsmanship of the inventor. The photo of these pages is shared by Artdaily.
It is clear that this lot is highly important in the history of sport. The auction house devoted a separate catalog to it, and expects $ 2M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The invention of basketball is really a major act of modern history, one of those advances that have impacted the lives and behavior of millions of people. The document was sold for $ 4.3 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Sotheby's :
By design, it is not a rough sport. The idea of the inventor, the Canadian James Naismith, was to occupy without risk of injury the sportsmen in winter, when weather conditions do not allow to play baseball or football.
The elevated position of the baskets gives a specific interest to this sport that does not invite to physical contact. One can argue whether similar sports existed before basketball and inspired Naismit. No matter: the basketball based on his thirteen rules has become one of the most popular sports due to the simplicity of its required equipment.
Naismith had typed these thirteen rules, in two sheets that he modified by hand writing and signed. His family, who had kept this precious document, sells it at Sotheby's in New York on December 10 for the benefit of a Canadian foundation that spreads the ideals of sportsmanship of the inventor. The photo of these pages is shared by Artdaily.
It is clear that this lot is highly important in the history of sport. The auction house devoted a separate catalog to it, and expects $ 2M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The invention of basketball is really a major act of modern history, one of those advances that have impacted the lives and behavior of millions of people. The document was sold for $ 4.3 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Sotheby's :
1892 Faster, Stronger, Higher
2019 SOLD for $ 8.8M including premium
In 1888 the 25-year-old publicist Pierre de Coubertin decides to concentrate all his efforts on the integration of sport into educational systems. Traumatized by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he sees sport as a means to ensure peace in the world. The moment is good : the extension of the railroad has favored inter-city sports confrontations in several countries, and the telegraph facilitates the preparations.
With a remarkable open-mindedness, Coubertin compares the progress of sport in several countries. In England, the country of the fair play, football is a team sport practiced in colleges, including Rugby, and the establishment of official rules allows competitions. In Sweden the mental benefit of gymnastics is officially recognized. In the United States, sport opens the way to the practice of collective recreation. He does not like the use of sport for military training in Germany but recognizes its heroic character.
The time is also favorable for meetings of thematic clubs in England and France. They will support the development of the Coubertin project. In 1891 he promulgates a motto : citius, fortius, altius (later modified in its sequence). Coubertin is setting the example : on March 20, 1892 he is the referee in the final of the first French rugby championship.
Taking as a pretext the fifth anniversary of a running club, a conference is organized at the Sorbonne on November 25, 1892, with three speakers. Bourdon and Jusserand tell the history of the sport. Coubertin, entrusted for dealing with modern sport, concludes his speech by proposing the reestablishment of the Olympic Games.
In this seminal address, Coubertin's vision is universal. The most developed nations will help the others. It is a matter of practicing sports in common between athletes of all nations with a search for the individual excellence, but not yet of international competition or rewards.
The autograph draft of this Coubertin thesis, largely modified by the author in the preparation phase, is estimated $ 700K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 18, lot 173. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Very remarkably, despite necessarily different visions of his international interlocutors, it is Coubertin himself who will concretize his concept. A January 1894 autograph document defining the stadium and sports passed at Goldin Auctions on October 29, 2016. In June 1894, Pierre de Coubertin creates the International Olympic Committee.
With a remarkable open-mindedness, Coubertin compares the progress of sport in several countries. In England, the country of the fair play, football is a team sport practiced in colleges, including Rugby, and the establishment of official rules allows competitions. In Sweden the mental benefit of gymnastics is officially recognized. In the United States, sport opens the way to the practice of collective recreation. He does not like the use of sport for military training in Germany but recognizes its heroic character.
The time is also favorable for meetings of thematic clubs in England and France. They will support the development of the Coubertin project. In 1891 he promulgates a motto : citius, fortius, altius (later modified in its sequence). Coubertin is setting the example : on March 20, 1892 he is the referee in the final of the first French rugby championship.
Taking as a pretext the fifth anniversary of a running club, a conference is organized at the Sorbonne on November 25, 1892, with three speakers. Bourdon and Jusserand tell the history of the sport. Coubertin, entrusted for dealing with modern sport, concludes his speech by proposing the reestablishment of the Olympic Games.
In this seminal address, Coubertin's vision is universal. The most developed nations will help the others. It is a matter of practicing sports in common between athletes of all nations with a search for the individual excellence, but not yet of international competition or rewards.
The autograph draft of this Coubertin thesis, largely modified by the author in the preparation phase, is estimated $ 700K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 18, lot 173. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Very remarkably, despite necessarily different visions of his international interlocutors, it is Coubertin himself who will concretize his concept. A January 1894 autograph document defining the stadium and sports passed at Goldin Auctions on October 29, 2016. In June 1894, Pierre de Coubertin creates the International Olympic Committee.
#AuctionUpdate Moments ago in our #NYC salesroom, the original Olympic Games manifesto soared to $8.8 million, more than 8.5x its $1 million high estimate following a 12-minute bidding battle. The manifesto outlines Pierre de Coubertin's vision for reviving the ancient games. pic.twitter.com/xoR4uAzs2t
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) December 18, 2019
1896 Just like in Olympia
2012 SOLD 540 K£ including premium
In 1896, the first major international multi-sport festival takes place in Athens. It takes as reference the games of ancient Greece. Designed and organized by Coubertin, the modern Olympic Games were born.
Two unprecedented events provide a link with antiquity and exacerbate the Greek patriotism : the discus throw (won by an American) and the marathon running.
Thirteen Greeks and four foreigners have dared to compete in this endurance race. The people and the king welcomed with an extraordinary burst of joy the victory of Spyridon Louis, a humble water carrier from the Athens suburb. This modern Cincinnatus returned to his farm after his feat.
The silver cup, 15 cm high, which was awarded to Spyridon Louis had been kept by his family. It is estimated £ 120K, for sale by Christie's in South Kensington on April 18.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
As with any one-of-its-kind piece, the price of this cup was not predictable. It was sold £ 540K including premium. It is an excellent result, announced by Christie's on Twitter as an Olympic (memorabilia) record.
Two unprecedented events provide a link with antiquity and exacerbate the Greek patriotism : the discus throw (won by an American) and the marathon running.
Thirteen Greeks and four foreigners have dared to compete in this endurance race. The people and the king welcomed with an extraordinary burst of joy the victory of Spyridon Louis, a humble water carrier from the Athens suburb. This modern Cincinnatus returned to his farm after his feat.
The silver cup, 15 cm high, which was awarded to Spyridon Louis had been kept by his family. It is estimated £ 120K, for sale by Christie's in South Kensington on April 18.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
As with any one-of-its-kind piece, the price of this cup was not predictable. It was sold £ 540K including premium. It is an excellent result, announced by Christie's on Twitter as an Olympic (memorabilia) record.
#Olympics2016 have begun! Here's the cup presented to the winner of the 1896 marathon: https://t.co/KHMCUYCoZ2 pic.twitter.com/8odpssRbZi
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) August 6, 2016
1898 The Electric Stanhope of the Rikers
2019 SOLD for $ 605K including premium
The automobile is the vehicle of the future. The inventors install motors on their bicycles. Several technologies are competing : steam, petrol, gas, electric battery.
In Europe the 100 Km/h will soon be reached. For these very high speeds, electric cars dominate, led by the Jeantaud driven by Chasseloup-Laubat and by the prototype designed and driven by Jenatzy. Their records will then be exceeded by a Gardner-Serpollet steam car driven by Léon Serpollet.
The pragmatic Americans are interested in the development of city cars. The Mechanics Fair that opens in Boston in October 1898 exhibits four cars : an electric car by Pope, another one by Riker, a steam car, and a petrol tricycle by De Dion-Bouton that demonstrates the industrial advance of Europe over America.
These American cars do not have the shape of bombshells which enables extravagant speeds. The Riker Electric of the 1898 Fair is bodied in Stanhope with a driver, a passenger at his side, and another passenger facing aft. It won several local competitions including an ambitious 50-mile road race. It was awarded a gold medal for its industrial design at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900.
Andrew L. Riker had created his manufacturing company for electric motors in 1888 and for motor vehicles one year later. His Stanhope is his favorite car, which soon becomes his wife's personal car. At his death in 1930, it is bequeathed to the Henry Ford Museum which notes a performance of 25 mph on asphalt or macadam.
When the Ford Museum refocused its collection on other priorities in 1985, the Stanhope was bought at auction by the Riker family. Acquired afterward by the friend who had been entrusted for its maintenance, it will be sold by Worldwide Auctioneers at Pacific Grove (Monterey) on August 15, lot 38.
Praised since over one hundred years as a family heirloom, this Riker Electric has remained entirely in its original, unrestored state. It has been returned into running order. Its leather license plate only inscribed with Riker's A.L.R. initials is also the original plaque of this car as told by the family tradition. It is a historical curiosity in its own right, prior to the establishment of a numbering system in New York plates.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In Europe the 100 Km/h will soon be reached. For these very high speeds, electric cars dominate, led by the Jeantaud driven by Chasseloup-Laubat and by the prototype designed and driven by Jenatzy. Their records will then be exceeded by a Gardner-Serpollet steam car driven by Léon Serpollet.
The pragmatic Americans are interested in the development of city cars. The Mechanics Fair that opens in Boston in October 1898 exhibits four cars : an electric car by Pope, another one by Riker, a steam car, and a petrol tricycle by De Dion-Bouton that demonstrates the industrial advance of Europe over America.
These American cars do not have the shape of bombshells which enables extravagant speeds. The Riker Electric of the 1898 Fair is bodied in Stanhope with a driver, a passenger at his side, and another passenger facing aft. It won several local competitions including an ambitious 50-mile road race. It was awarded a gold medal for its industrial design at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900.
Andrew L. Riker had created his manufacturing company for electric motors in 1888 and for motor vehicles one year later. His Stanhope is his favorite car, which soon becomes his wife's personal car. At his death in 1930, it is bequeathed to the Henry Ford Museum which notes a performance of 25 mph on asphalt or macadam.
When the Ford Museum refocused its collection on other priorities in 1985, the Stanhope was bought at auction by the Riker family. Acquired afterward by the friend who had been entrusted for its maintenance, it will be sold by Worldwide Auctioneers at Pacific Grove (Monterey) on August 15, lot 38.
Praised since over one hundred years as a family heirloom, this Riker Electric has remained entirely in its original, unrestored state. It has been returned into running order. Its leather license plate only inscribed with Riker's A.L.R. initials is also the original plaque of this car as told by the family tradition. It is a historical curiosity in its own right, prior to the establishment of a numbering system in New York plates.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
