Origins of Sports
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Sport in art George III Manet Sport Sport II Olympic Games Basketball Horse Sport document Sport rewards 18th century painting Autograph
See also : Sport in art George III Manet Sport Sport II Olympic Games Basketball Horse Sport document Sport rewards 18th century painting Autograph
1765 Gimcrack by Stubbs
2011 SOLD for £ 22.4M by Christie's
Serving wealthy English aristocrats, George Stubbs specialized in the topic of race horses. On December 8, 2010, Sotheby's sold £ 10.1M a very elegant study of mares and foals in a meadow, painted in 1767.
A horse named Gimcrack was winning most of the races where he was engaged. His portrait was sold for £ 22.4M by Christie's on July 5, 2011, lot 12.
Made around 1765, this broad composition, oil on canvas 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.
A horse named Gimcrack was winning most of the races where he was engaged. His portrait was sold for £ 22.4M by Christie's on July 5, 2011, lot 12.
Made around 1765, this broad composition, oil on canvas 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.
Significance in the artist's career and in horse racing history.
The Painting
George Stubbs' "Gimcrack with John Pratt Up on Newmarket Heath" (oil on canvas, 1765) is one of the most iconic images in British sporting art. It depicts the celebrated racehorse Gimcrack, a small grey colt, with his jockey John Pratt in the colors of his owner, the 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke. In the background Stubbs included a famous “rubbing-down house” (a shelter where horses were cooled off after exercise) on Newmarket Heath, giving the picture a strong sense of place.
The painting was commissioned by Gimcrack’s first important owner, Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, and remained in the family until it was sold at Christie’s London on 5 July 2011 for £22,441,250 (approximately $36 million at the time), still the world-record auction price for a British sporting painting and for any work by George Stubbs.
Significance in George Stubbs’ Career
Gimcrack (foaled 1760) was one of the most famous racehorses of the 18th century despite being unusually small (barely 14.1 hands):
When the painting appeared at Christie’s in 2011 after almost 250 years in the same family (Woolavington Collection), it caused a sensation:
The Painting
George Stubbs' "Gimcrack with John Pratt Up on Newmarket Heath" (oil on canvas, 1765) is one of the most iconic images in British sporting art. It depicts the celebrated racehorse Gimcrack, a small grey colt, with his jockey John Pratt in the colors of his owner, the 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke. In the background Stubbs included a famous “rubbing-down house” (a shelter where horses were cooled off after exercise) on Newmarket Heath, giving the picture a strong sense of place.
The painting was commissioned by Gimcrack’s first important owner, Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, and remained in the family until it was sold at Christie’s London on 5 July 2011 for £22,441,250 (approximately $36 million at the time), still the world-record auction price for a British sporting painting and for any work by George Stubbs.
Significance in George Stubbs’ Career
- This is arguably Stubbs’ most famous single horse portrait and the one that cemented his reputation as the greatest painter of racehorses in history.
- Painted in 1765, it came at the absolute peak of Stubbs’ powers, shortly after the publication of his revolutionary book The Anatomy of the Horse (1766), which had established him as both an artist and a serious equine anatomist.
- The picture shows Stubbs’ mature style in full: astonishingly accurate anatomy combined with luminous atmospheric effects, subtle greys and silvers in the horse’s coat, and a low horizon that makes the horse appear heroic against the vast Suffolk sky.
- It was one of the first paintings in which Stubbs placed a named, contemporary Thoroughbred in a specific landscape setting rather than the more generic parkland backgrounds of earlier portraits. This innovation became his signature format and influenced generations of sporting artists.
- Gimcrack was exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1766 (one of only three paintings Stubbs ever exhibited in his lifetime), bringing him enormous publicity at exactly the moment he was establishing his independent studio in London.
Gimcrack (foaled 1760) was one of the most famous racehorses of the 18th century despite being unusually small (barely 14.1 hands):
- He raced an extraordinary 36 times between 1764 and 1771 and won 27 of those races (a remarkable record for the era of long-distance heat racing).
- His most celebrated victory was beating the previously unbeaten Pontac over four-mile heats at Newmarket in 1765 — the year Stubbs painted him.
- In 1768 he was sold to the Comte de Lauraguais and exported to France, where he won several races and became the first British horse to race successfully on the Continent, helping spread the fashion for English Thoroughbreds in Europe.
- After retirement he stood as a stallion in England again and sired a number of good runners, though he is more important historically than as a sire.
- Gimcrack’s fame was such that the Gimcrack Stakes (now a prestigious Group 2 race for two-year-olds at York) has been named after him since 1846, and the Gimcrack Dinner, one of the most important social events in British racing, is still held annually by the York Gimcrack Club.
When the painting appeared at Christie’s in 2011 after almost 250 years in the same family (Woolavington Collection), it caused a sensation:
- It shattered the previous record for Stubbs (£10.1 million for “Broodmares and Foals” in 1996).
- It remains the most expensive sporting picture and the most expensive Old Master painting ever sold at auction in London.
- It was bought by an anonymous bidder (later revealed to be the British art dealer Simon Dickinson acting for a private collector) and is now on long-term loan to the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket, where it can be seen by the public.
#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 Royal Blackheath Golf Club
2015 SOLD for £ 720K by Bonhams
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 was sold for £ 720K by Bonhams on December 9, 2015, 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 was sold for £ 62K in the same sale, lot 48. 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.
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 was sold for £ 720K by Bonhams on December 9, 2015, 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 was sold for £ 62K in the same sale, lot 48. 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.
1816 La Tauromaquia by Goya
2013 SOLD for $ 1.9M by Christie's
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, was sold for $ 1.9M from a lower estimate of $ 400K by Christie's on April 9, 2013, lot 67. 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.
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, was sold for $ 1.9M from a lower estimate of $ 400K by Christie's on April 9, 2013, lot 67. 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.
1857 The Laws of Base Ball
2016 SOLD for $ 3.26M by SCP
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 were sold together as lot 1 for $ 3.26M by SCP on April 23, 2016. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The "Laws of Base Ball" (a set of handwritten 1857 manuscript documents outlining foundational rules for the game) was sold by SCP Auctions in their 2016 Spring Premier online auction, closing on April 23, 2016 (results finalized early Sunday, April 24).
This 23-page (or multi-document set: drafts and versions) collection, often called baseball's "Magna Carta" or "birth certificate," was drafted primarily by Daniel Lucius "Doc" Adams (president of the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club) for the first Base Ball Convention in New York City (January–February 1857). It standardized rules amid growing clubs and inconsistencies from earlier versions (e.g., the 1845 Knickerbocker Rules).
Auction Details
The documents include multiple versions:
Legacy
The 1857 convention (led by Adams) marked a pivotal "great leap forward," standardizing dimensions and play that remain core to modern baseball (90-foot bases, nine innings, nine players unchanged since the 19th century). It elevated the game beyond New York variants, enabling national spread and professionalization.
The documents reframed baseball's origins: Adams (a doctor, former Connecticut senator, and Knickerbocker leader who invented the shortstop and oversaw equipment) is now seen as a primary founder, challenging the long-held (but debated) credit to Alexander Cartwright (whose Hall of Fame plaque remains unchanged). Historians like John Thorn call it the "Dead Sea Scrolls of Baseball," dating the modern game's true beginnings to 1857 rather than 1845.
As of recent reports (around 2026), the documents were heading to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (donated or placed by the 2016 buyer, identified in some sources as a collector named Truitt), preserving them for public/historical access.
This sale highlighted the skyrocketing value of foundational sports artifacts, drawing parallels to other "rule" documents like Naismith's basketball rules.
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 were sold together as lot 1 for $ 3.26M by SCP on April 23, 2016. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The "Laws of Base Ball" (a set of handwritten 1857 manuscript documents outlining foundational rules for the game) was sold by SCP Auctions in their 2016 Spring Premier online auction, closing on April 23, 2016 (results finalized early Sunday, April 24).
This 23-page (or multi-document set: drafts and versions) collection, often called baseball's "Magna Carta" or "birth certificate," was drafted primarily by Daniel Lucius "Doc" Adams (president of the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club) for the first Base Ball Convention in New York City (January–February 1857). It standardized rules amid growing clubs and inconsistencies from earlier versions (e.g., the 1845 Knickerbocker Rules).
Auction Details
- Auction House: SCP Auctions (Laguna Niguel, California; online bidding from April 6–23, 2016).
- Sale Result: Sold for $3,263,246 (including buyer's premium; record for any baseball document and third-highest for sports memorabilia overall at the time, behind items like a Babe Ruth jersey and James Naismith's basketball rules).
- Pre-Auction Estimate: Around $1 million+ (far exceeded).
- Buyer: Anonymous private collector (identity not publicly revealed).
- Previous History: Previously sold in 1999 at Sotheby's for $12,650 (with minimal description and unknown authorship); rediscovered/verified in the lead-up to 2016, with authorship attributed to Adams via expert analysis (including MLB historian John Thorn).
- Context: Part of a major sale including the Don Drysdale estate and other items (total sale ~$7.2 million in some reports).
The documents include multiple versions:
- Adams' personal draft ("Laws 1").
- Scripted versions by William Henry Grenelle (a Knickerbocker director) with possible Adams edits ("Rules for Match Games of Base Ball" and "Laws 2").
- Bases form a square with sides of 90 feet (30 yards from home to second, etc.; a major fix from variable "paces").
- Pitcher's distance: 45 feet (neither foot advancing the line).
- Nine players per side.
- Games last nine innings (debated; convention initially set seven, later influenced to nine).
- Ball specifications: Weight 6–10 ounces (not less than 6, not more than 10), covered in leather with India rubber yarn.
- Bat limits and player conduct (e.g., no betting, no "revolving" mid-season player switches).
- Field layout, fair/foul distinctions, ending games by innings rather than first to 21 runs (to prevent draws/stalling).
- Other: Shortstop position (credited to Adams), fly catches, and constraints on primitive practices.
Legacy
The 1857 convention (led by Adams) marked a pivotal "great leap forward," standardizing dimensions and play that remain core to modern baseball (90-foot bases, nine innings, nine players unchanged since the 19th century). It elevated the game beyond New York variants, enabling national spread and professionalization.
The documents reframed baseball's origins: Adams (a doctor, former Connecticut senator, and Knickerbocker leader who invented the shortstop and oversaw equipment) is now seen as a primary founder, challenging the long-held (but debated) credit to Alexander Cartwright (whose Hall of Fame plaque remains unchanged). Historians like John Thorn call it the "Dead Sea Scrolls of Baseball," dating the modern game's true beginnings to 1857 rather than 1845.
As of recent reports (around 2026), the documents were heading to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (donated or placed by the 2016 buyer, identified in some sources as a collector named Truitt), preserving them for public/historical access.
This sale highlighted the skyrocketing value of foundational sports artifacts, drawing parallels to other "rule" documents like Naismith's basketball rules.
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 Sheffield Football Club
2011 SOLD for £ 880K by Sotheby's
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 sold its archives for £ 880K on July 14, 2011 at Sotheby's.
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 Sheffield Foot Ball Club archives (historic records of Sheffield FC, recognized by FIFA and the FA as the world's oldest football club, founded October 24, 1857) were sold by Sotheby's London on July 14, 2011, as Lot 10 in the "English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations" auction.
This was a single comprehensive lot comprising the club's earliest surviving archive, described as "the birth of modern football." Sheffield FC consigned the items to raise funds for the club's ongoing operations (it competes in non-league football, several tiers below the Premier League).
Auction Details
The archive (ink and paper documents, spanning manuscript books, rules, and ephemera) documented the club's foundational years and the evolution of football rules:
Legacy
Sheffield FC's 1857 founding and these 1858–1859 rules represent a cornerstone of modern association football (soccer). They influenced the FA's 1863 Laws of the Game (which Sheffield FC helped shape via representatives like Creswick, a key figure in early standardization). Key innovations included fixed rules for club matches, promoting organized play over ad-hoc games.The archive's survival allows historians to trace football's shift from informal pastimes to a global sport. Sheffield FC remains active (currently in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division), proudly maintaining its "world's oldest" status.
Post-auction, the buyer has kept the items in private hands (no public reports of resale, donation to museums like the National Football Museum, or return to the club). A separate 1859 printed rules copy surfaced and was auctioned by Sotheby's in 2021 (estimated £50,000–£70,000; Sheffield FC expressed interest in repurchasing). The 2011 sale underscored the soaring value of foundational sports artifacts, paralleling sales like the "Laws of Base Ball" or Coubertin's manifesto.
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 sold its archives for £ 880K on July 14, 2011 at Sotheby's.
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 Sheffield Foot Ball Club archives (historic records of Sheffield FC, recognized by FIFA and the FA as the world's oldest football club, founded October 24, 1857) were sold by Sotheby's London on July 14, 2011, as Lot 10 in the "English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations" auction.
This was a single comprehensive lot comprising the club's earliest surviving archive, described as "the birth of modern football." Sheffield FC consigned the items to raise funds for the club's ongoing operations (it competes in non-league football, several tiers below the Premier League).
Auction Details
- Auction House: Sotheby's London.
- Date: July 14, 2011.
- Lot: 10.
- Pre-Auction Estimate: £800,000–£1,200,000.
- Sale Result: Sold for £881,250 (including buyer's premium; approximately $1.4 million USD at the time), within the estimate range but setting a record for football/soccer memorabilia (surpassing prior sports document sales).
- Buyer: Identity not publicly disclosed in contemporary reports (anonymous private collector; some speculation pointed to Middle Eastern interest, including Qatar-linked bidders due to the timing ahead of the 2022 World Cup bid, but unconfirmed).
- Context: The lot was a highlight of the sale, emphasizing its primacy in codifying organized club football before the Football Association's formation in 1863.
The archive (ink and paper documents, spanning manuscript books, rules, and ephemera) documented the club's foundational years and the evolution of football rules:
- Handwritten draft rules (1858): The original manuscript version of the club's laws, drafted and discussed in meetings (e.g., starting with a letter from Nathaniel Creswick calling a meeting on October 9, 1858; resolutions for submission on October 28, 1858).
- Printed "Rules, Regulations, & Laws of the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club" (1859): The earliest known surviving printed club football rules (the only copy known at the time; a second copy surfaced later in 2021).
- Minute books:
- May 1858–early 1859: Included sports day results, subscriber lists, membership, accounts (expenses like footballs and beer), newspaper cuttings, and key minutes on establishing rules/laws.
- February 1859–October 1860: Sports results, press cuttings (including militia rifle corps involvement), meetings, subscriptions.
- 1864–1868: Annual reports (e.g., match details like heavy defeats to London but victories over Notts; 12 vs. 15 players in one game), resolutions (adopting offside rule conditionally, club uniform: scarlet cap/jersey and white trousers), AGM minutes, FA AGM cuttings.
- Other items: Match reports from early inter-club games (some of the first recorded), newspaper cuttings, and documents tracing rule changes and game development.
- Goals scored by kicking the ball under a string between posts.
- No handling the ball (except goalkeeper-like roles in some variants).
- "Fair catch" allowances (influenced by rugby but distinct).
- Offside concepts, player numbers, pitch markings, and conduct (e.g., no tripping, hacking, or holding).
Legacy
Sheffield FC's 1857 founding and these 1858–1859 rules represent a cornerstone of modern association football (soccer). They influenced the FA's 1863 Laws of the Game (which Sheffield FC helped shape via representatives like Creswick, a key figure in early standardization). Key innovations included fixed rules for club matches, promoting organized play over ad-hoc games.The archive's survival allows historians to trace football's shift from informal pastimes to a global sport. Sheffield FC remains active (currently in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division), proudly maintaining its "world's oldest" status.
Post-auction, the buyer has kept the items in private hands (no public reports of resale, donation to museums like the National Football Museum, or return to the club). A separate 1859 printed rules copy surfaced and was auctioned by Sotheby's in 2021 (estimated £50,000–£70,000; Sheffield FC expressed interest in repurchasing). The 2011 sale underscored the soaring value of foundational sports artifacts, paralleling sales like the "Laws of Base Ball" or Coubertin's manifesto.
1872 Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne by Manet
2004 SOLD for $ 26.3M by Sotheby's
Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas have masterfully shaken up the classicism. Building on their predecessors, they find new ideas for staging and colors.
Manet easily entered into artist circles. He enjoys social life and does not wait for the recognition of the Salons. His themes are unlimited. Before him, Courbet went already complacently up to the scandal. Baudelaire and then Zola recognize the originality of his approach.
On May 5, 2004, Sotheby's sold for $ 26.3M Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne, oil on canvas 73 x 94 cm painted in 1872 by Manet, lot 13, from the collection of one of the most famous owners of racehorses, John Hay Whitney. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The artist skillfully mixed observation and imitation. It seems that the topography of the Longchamp racecourse was painted on the spot.
Manet had demonstrated a few years earlier in his first bullfighting scenes that a direct participation in the event was not essential, since he could rely on Goya. Here the horses in full gallop all fly with their four legs lifted, as in the Epsom Derby painted by Géricault in 1821, acquired by the Louvre in 1866. The imperturbable position of the jockeys in full race is not realistic : the sporting effort was obviously not appreciated by Manet.
Manet's painting is however very modern. The track and the lawn are aquamarine blue, highlighting the contrasts in a freedom of colors that anticipates expressionism for several decades. The distance of the subjects is marked by an increasing blur, as if it were a photograph focused on the action in progress in the foreground. This artifice provides the whole composition with an effect of depth, different from the solutions sought by his impressionist friends.
Manet easily entered into artist circles. He enjoys social life and does not wait for the recognition of the Salons. His themes are unlimited. Before him, Courbet went already complacently up to the scandal. Baudelaire and then Zola recognize the originality of his approach.
On May 5, 2004, Sotheby's sold for $ 26.3M Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne, oil on canvas 73 x 94 cm painted in 1872 by Manet, lot 13, from the collection of one of the most famous owners of racehorses, John Hay Whitney. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The artist skillfully mixed observation and imitation. It seems that the topography of the Longchamp racecourse was painted on the spot.
Manet had demonstrated a few years earlier in his first bullfighting scenes that a direct participation in the event was not essential, since he could rely on Goya. Here the horses in full gallop all fly with their four legs lifted, as in the Epsom Derby painted by Géricault in 1821, acquired by the Louvre in 1866. The imperturbable position of the jockeys in full race is not realistic : the sporting effort was obviously not appreciated by Manet.
Manet's painting is however very modern. The track and the lawn are aquamarine blue, highlighting the contrasts in a freedom of colors that anticipates expressionism for several decades. The distance of the subjects is marked by an increasing blur, as if it were a photograph focused on the action in progress in the foreground. This artifice provides the whole composition with an effect of depth, different from the solutions sought by his impressionist friends.
1891 Founding Rules of Basket-Ball
2010 SOLD for $ 4.3M by Sotheby's
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, consigned it at Sotheby's on December 10, 2010 for the benefit of a Canadian foundation that spreads the ideals of sportsmanship of the inventor.
It was sold for $ 4.3M from an estimate in the region of $ 2M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The "Rules of Basket-Ball" (the original 13 rules of basketball, handwritten title by James Naismith on two typewritten pages, dated December 21, 1891) was sold by Sotheby's New York on December 10, 2010, as Lot 5001 in the "James Naismith's Founding Rules of Basketball" dedicated auction (catalog N08735).
This document is the foundational "birth certificate" of basketball: the rules Naismith typed up (with his handwritten title "Basket Ball" and annotations) on the morning he introduced the game to his class at the International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was sold by the Naismith International Basketball Foundation (run by his grandson Ian Naismith) to benefit the foundation's charitable work promoting sportsmanship, integrity, fair play, and services for underprivileged children.
Auction Details
The document outlines the original 13 rules Naismith devised to create an indoor game that could be played during harsh New England winters, emphasizing safety, skill over brute force, and minimal equipment (using peach baskets nailed to balcony rails as goals and a soccer ball).Key rules included:
The document's legacy is as basketball's "Magna Carta": proof of its deliberate invention (not evolved organically), symbolizing innovation in physical education. It highlights how a simple idea addressed a problem (winter indoor activity) and grew into a vehicle for unity, health, and opportunity. The sale amplified its visibility as a cultural artifact.
Intention and Biography of Naismith
James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, ordained Presbyterian minister, and coach. Born in Ramsay Township, Ontario (near Almonte), he orphaned young and raised by relatives; he studied at McGill University (BA 1888, theology/alumni athletics), where he excelled in football and lacrosse. He earned a diploma in physical education at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield (1890–1891).
In late 1891, under superintendent Luther Gulick's directive to invent an indoor game for restless winter gym classes (avoiding injuries from adapted outdoor sports), Naismith drew inspiration from childhood games (duck on a rock for non-violent throwing) and rules from sports like soccer/rugby. His intention was educational and moral: create a game promoting physical fitness, character-building, teamwork, and Christian values (fair play, no rough play) for YMCA youth—emphasizing "mens sana in corpore sano" (healthy mind in healthy body). He never patented it, viewing basketball as a gift to society.
Naismith later earned an MD (1898, Gross Medical College, Denver), served as a chaplain in WWI (France, 1917–1919; designed early football helmet), and joined the University of Kansas in 1898 as chapel director, athletics director, and first basketball coach (coaching until 1907; program still active). He remained at KU until retirement (1937), influencing coaches like Forrest "Phog" Allen.
His legacy endures: Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield, MA) named after him; game global (FIBA, NBA, Olympics); principles of inclusivity and non-violence persist. The rules' 2010 sale and donation to KU (now displayed at the university) tied it to his coaching legacy there.
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, consigned it at Sotheby's on December 10, 2010 for the benefit of a Canadian foundation that spreads the ideals of sportsmanship of the inventor.
It was sold for $ 4.3M from an estimate in the region of $ 2M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The "Rules of Basket-Ball" (the original 13 rules of basketball, handwritten title by James Naismith on two typewritten pages, dated December 21, 1891) was sold by Sotheby's New York on December 10, 2010, as Lot 5001 in the "James Naismith's Founding Rules of Basketball" dedicated auction (catalog N08735).
This document is the foundational "birth certificate" of basketball: the rules Naismith typed up (with his handwritten title "Basket Ball" and annotations) on the morning he introduced the game to his class at the International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was sold by the Naismith International Basketball Foundation (run by his grandson Ian Naismith) to benefit the foundation's charitable work promoting sportsmanship, integrity, fair play, and services for underprivileged children.
Auction Details
- Auction House: Sotheby's New York.
- Date: December 10, 2010.
- Lot: 5001 (two signed typescript pages, framed, with Naismith's handwritten title and notes).
- Pre-Auction Estimate: $2 million+ (some reports noted prior appraisals as high as $5 million in 1996).
- Sale Result: Sold for $4,338,500 (including buyer's premium; hammer price around $3.8 million), setting a world record for sports memorabilia at the time (surpassing prior highs and comparable to rare books like Shakespeare's First Folio adjusted for inflation).
- Buyer: David and Suzanne Booth (Kansas University alumni and major Jayhawks boosters; David Booth is a Texas-based investor). They purchased it via telephone bidding.
- Context: Part of a strong sale including other historical documents (e.g., Robert Kennedy's Emancipation Proclamation copy sold for $3.8 million). The rules fetched the highest price, underscoring basketball's cultural status.
The document outlines the original 13 rules Naismith devised to create an indoor game that could be played during harsh New England winters, emphasizing safety, skill over brute force, and minimal equipment (using peach baskets nailed to balcony rails as goals and a soccer ball).Key rules included:
- No running with the ball (must pass or dribble; early form of dribbling allowed but not emphasized).
- No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking opponents (focus on non-contact).
- A goal scored by throwing the ball into the basket counts as one point.
- Play continues until a goal or foul; fouls penalized by free throws.
- Teams of 9 players (later reduced).
- No player could occupy the space near the basket excessively.
The document's legacy is as basketball's "Magna Carta": proof of its deliberate invention (not evolved organically), symbolizing innovation in physical education. It highlights how a simple idea addressed a problem (winter indoor activity) and grew into a vehicle for unity, health, and opportunity. The sale amplified its visibility as a cultural artifact.
Intention and Biography of Naismith
James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, ordained Presbyterian minister, and coach. Born in Ramsay Township, Ontario (near Almonte), he orphaned young and raised by relatives; he studied at McGill University (BA 1888, theology/alumni athletics), where he excelled in football and lacrosse. He earned a diploma in physical education at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield (1890–1891).
In late 1891, under superintendent Luther Gulick's directive to invent an indoor game for restless winter gym classes (avoiding injuries from adapted outdoor sports), Naismith drew inspiration from childhood games (duck on a rock for non-violent throwing) and rules from sports like soccer/rugby. His intention was educational and moral: create a game promoting physical fitness, character-building, teamwork, and Christian values (fair play, no rough play) for YMCA youth—emphasizing "mens sana in corpore sano" (healthy mind in healthy body). He never patented it, viewing basketball as a gift to society.
Naismith later earned an MD (1898, Gross Medical College, Denver), served as a chaplain in WWI (France, 1917–1919; designed early football helmet), and joined the University of Kansas in 1898 as chapel director, athletics director, and first basketball coach (coaching until 1907; program still active). He remained at KU until retirement (1937), influencing coaches like Forrest "Phog" Allen.
His legacy endures: Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield, MA) named after him; game global (FIBA, NBA, Olympics); principles of inclusivity and non-violence persist. The rules' 2010 sale and donation to KU (now displayed at the university) tied it to his coaching legacy there.
1892 Address by Coubertin for the Olympic Games
2019 SOLD for $ 8.8M by Sotheby's
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, was sold for $ 8.8M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Sotheby's on December 18, 2019, lot 173.
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.
Pierre de Coubertin's Olympic Address (commonly known as The Olympic Manifesto or his 1892 speech/manifesto) was sold by Sotheby's in New York on December 18, 2019, as Lot 173 in the "Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including the Olympic Manifesto" auction. This 14-page autographed manuscript in French was Coubertin's original handwritten draft (with inscriptions and corrections) of his keynote address delivered on November 25, 1892, at the annual meeting of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (Union of French Athletic Sports Societies) in Paris at the Sorbonne. It marked his first public call for the revival of the ancient Olympic Games after nearly 1,500 years.Auction Details
The address passionately advocated for the re-establishment of the Olympic Games as a modern international festival of athletics, education, and moral/physical development. Coubertin argued that reviving the Games would promote physical education in schools (inspired by British models), foster international understanding among youth, and counterbalance the militarism and nationalism of his era through peaceful competition.
Key themes included:
"The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." (Original French: "L’important dans la vie ce n’est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l’essentiel ce n’est pas d’avoir vaincu mais de s’être bien battu.") This encapsulated his emphasis on participation, effort, and moral growth over mere victory.
The speech initially met with limited enthusiasm, but it laid the groundwork for the 1894 Sorbonne Congress, where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded and the first modern Games set for Athens in 1896.
Intention and Biography of Coubertin
Pierre de Coubertin (full name: Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin; born January 1, 1863, in Paris; died September 2, 1937, in Geneva) was a French aristocrat, educator, historian, and humanist. Influenced by the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), he sought ways to strengthen French youth through physical education. He admired British public schools' emphasis on sports and American collegiate athletics.
His primary intention was educational reform: to integrate sport into schooling to build character, discipline, and international goodwill. He viewed the revived Olympics not as mere competitions but as a "state of mind" (Olympism) promoting harmony, peace, and the balanced development of body and mind ("mens sana in corpore sano"). A pacifist and internationalist, he aimed to channel national rivalries into athletic rather than military arenas, creating a global festival every four years. He co-founded the IOC in 1894, served as its president (1896–1925), and shaped its rituals and ideals.
Global Legacy of the Olympic Games Project
Coubertin's vision transformed the Olympics into the world's largest peaceful international event, held every four years (with interruptions for wars), involving nearly every nation and billions of viewers. The modern Games emphasize:
This episode underscored the immense cultural and historical value of Coubertin's work, turning a once-overlooked speech into one of the most expensive documents ever sold.
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, was sold for $ 8.8M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Sotheby's on December 18, 2019, lot 173.
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.
Pierre de Coubertin's Olympic Address (commonly known as The Olympic Manifesto or his 1892 speech/manifesto) was sold by Sotheby's in New York on December 18, 2019, as Lot 173 in the "Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including the Olympic Manifesto" auction. This 14-page autographed manuscript in French was Coubertin's original handwritten draft (with inscriptions and corrections) of his keynote address delivered on November 25, 1892, at the annual meeting of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (Union of French Athletic Sports Societies) in Paris at the Sorbonne. It marked his first public call for the revival of the ancient Olympic Games after nearly 1,500 years.Auction Details
- Auction House: Sotheby's New York.
- Date: December 18, 2019.
- Lot: 173.
- Description: A 14-page manuscript (inked in black on ruled paper, with some corrections and additions), titled in Coubertin's hand, representing the foundational text for the modern Olympic Movement. It had been rediscovered (notably after a flea market search in some accounts) and was offered publicly for the first time.
- Pre-Auction Estimate: $700,000–$1,000,000.
- Sale Result: Sold for $8,806,500 (including buyer's premium), far exceeding the high estimate (nearly 9 times over) and setting a world auction record for sports memorabilia (surpassing items like Babe Ruth's jersey). Bidding lasted about 12 minutes.
- Buyer: Anonymous (private collector; no public revelation of identity in subsequent reports).
- Context in Sale: The lot was a highlight of a dedicated books and manuscripts auction, emphasizing its historical significance as the "blueprint" for the modern Olympics.
The address passionately advocated for the re-establishment of the Olympic Games as a modern international festival of athletics, education, and moral/physical development. Coubertin argued that reviving the Games would promote physical education in schools (inspired by British models), foster international understanding among youth, and counterbalance the militarism and nationalism of his era through peaceful competition.
Key themes included:
- The educational value of sport for character-building and youth.
- The need for an international, periodic event to unite nations.
- A vision of athletics as a "grandiose and beneficent work."
"The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." (Original French: "L’important dans la vie ce n’est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l’essentiel ce n’est pas d’avoir vaincu mais de s’être bien battu.") This encapsulated his emphasis on participation, effort, and moral growth over mere victory.
The speech initially met with limited enthusiasm, but it laid the groundwork for the 1894 Sorbonne Congress, where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded and the first modern Games set for Athens in 1896.
Intention and Biography of Coubertin
Pierre de Coubertin (full name: Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin; born January 1, 1863, in Paris; died September 2, 1937, in Geneva) was a French aristocrat, educator, historian, and humanist. Influenced by the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), he sought ways to strengthen French youth through physical education. He admired British public schools' emphasis on sports and American collegiate athletics.
His primary intention was educational reform: to integrate sport into schooling to build character, discipline, and international goodwill. He viewed the revived Olympics not as mere competitions but as a "state of mind" (Olympism) promoting harmony, peace, and the balanced development of body and mind ("mens sana in corpore sano"). A pacifist and internationalist, he aimed to channel national rivalries into athletic rather than military arenas, creating a global festival every four years. He co-founded the IOC in 1894, served as its president (1896–1925), and shaped its rituals and ideals.
Global Legacy of the Olympic Games Project
Coubertin's vision transformed the Olympics into the world's largest peaceful international event, held every four years (with interruptions for wars), involving nearly every nation and billions of viewers. The modern Games emphasize:
- International unity and cultural exchange.
- Amateurism (originally; evolved over time).
- Educational and moral values beyond winning.
- Symbols like the Olympic rings, flame, and creed.
This episode underscored the immense cultural and historical value of Coubertin's work, turning a once-overlooked speech into one of the most expensive documents ever sold.
#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 Football Association Challenge Cup
2020 SOLD for £ 760K by Bonhams
The Football Association (FA) was founded in 1863 by eleven English clubs who wanted to standardize the rules and prohibit holding the ball in the hand. The founders are quickly joined by other clubs and it becomes tempting to organize a competition. The easiest is to proceed by direct elimination : the FA Challenge Cup is created for the season 1871-72.
This competition is symbolized by a trophy which is entrusted to the winning club until the final of the following year. This heavy piece of silverware to be lifted by two large handles goes from club to club. It was stolen in September 1895. Despite a promised reward of £ 10, it was not found. Much later, a counterfeiter will declare without convincing proof that he had stolen it in order to melt it.
A new trophy was therefore needed for 1896. It was made by a Birmingham silversmith as an exact replica of the lost piece of which a cast had been preserved. It is 41 cm high, 51 cm overall with the plinth, and its cover is decorated with a footballer.
A design change is decided in 1910 with the intention of protecting a new model by copyright. The obsolete trophy, which bears the list of winning clubs from 1872 to 1910 spread over several cartouches, is presented to FA President Lord Kinnaird, a champion who had been a member of its council since 1868.
In the direct descent from Lord Kinnaird, the cup was sold for £ 480K by Christie's on May 19, 2005, lot 100 and for £ 760K by Bonhams on September 29, 2020, lot 6.
This competition is symbolized by a trophy which is entrusted to the winning club until the final of the following year. This heavy piece of silverware to be lifted by two large handles goes from club to club. It was stolen in September 1895. Despite a promised reward of £ 10, it was not found. Much later, a counterfeiter will declare without convincing proof that he had stolen it in order to melt it.
A new trophy was therefore needed for 1896. It was made by a Birmingham silversmith as an exact replica of the lost piece of which a cast had been preserved. It is 41 cm high, 51 cm overall with the plinth, and its cover is decorated with a footballer.
A design change is decided in 1910 with the intention of protecting a new model by copyright. The obsolete trophy, which bears the list of winning clubs from 1872 to 1910 spread over several cartouches, is presented to FA President Lord Kinnaird, a champion who had been a member of its council since 1868.
In the direct descent from Lord Kinnaird, the cup was sold for £ 480K by Christie's on May 19, 2005, lot 100 and for £ 760K by Bonhams on September 29, 2020, lot 6.
□Up for the Cup□
— Bonhams (@bonhams1793) September 8, 2020
We're offering a piece of English football history in our Spectacular Sporting Trophies & Memorabilia auction on September 29 – the oldest surviving FA Cup presented to winning teams between 1896 and 1910 □https://t.co/g2VHODn6ds pic.twitter.com/FVX285eggD
□The oldest surviving FA Cup, presented to the winning teams between 1896-1910, sold at #Bonhams today for £760,000□️
— Bonhams (@bonhams1793) September 29, 2020
The trophy charts the transformation of the game from one dominated by public school players to the popular mass participation sport that it became and remains. pic.twitter.com/W3ukAOdbs7
1896 Olympic Cup awarded to Spyridon Louis
2012 SOLD for £ 540K by Christie's
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 was sold for £ 540K from an estimate of £ 120K by Christie's on April 18 2012, lot 32.
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 was sold for £ 540K from an estimate of £ 120K by Christie's on April 18 2012, lot 32.
#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
