1872 San Francisco, Cal SAILING REGATTA Silver Trophy Cup, Winning Captain, MMBA

Description: For bid is an original July 4, 1872 San Francisco, California MASTER MARINERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION Independence Day SILVER CUP presented to the captain of the winner vessel in the Regatta held in the afternoon of July 4, 1872. This coin silver cup was presented to Captain Charles Thompson of the Schooner “Caroline Mills” for winning the sailing regatta that day in 2 Hours, 20 minutes and 10 seconds. This wonderful, Victorian award trophy was presented to the captain of the ship for being the first ship to cross the finish line of the race around the San Francisco Bay. This is an extremely early race trophy with a wonderful sports association! Cup was wrought in San Francisco, California in coin silver (melted coin silver, .900), just below the purity of Sterling (925 silver). This is a wonderful goblet with lovely Victorian designs on the sides. Probably produced by William K. Vanderslice, Kohler & Ritter, or another silversmith working in San Francisco in the early 1870’s. Bottom of the cup does not identify whose work this is…. Cup stands just under 7 inches tall. It’s a terrific example of the high quality silver products being produced in California in the 1870’s. Not weighted at all. Very few signs of age. Some tarnish and a few minor, little dings to the base. A USA / United States of America FLAG is part of the hand-etched inscription on the cup: “MMB Association to Chas. Thompson / Schr. Caroline Mills/ Won in Regatta / July 4th / Best Time 2. 20. 10.” Over the image of the flag is the following etching: “Champion 1872” in tiny letters and numbers. This goblet has a wonderful, gothic style to it. What a wonderful piece of sailing history. The Caroline Mills was a shipping vessel that sailed the Pacific Coast and to and from the Hawaiian Islands / “Sandwich Islands” back in the 1860’s and 1870’s. There is a wonderful 1908 San Francisco newspaper article with a nice history of these Independence Day regattas / races held on the SF Bay in the 1860’s and 1870’s. Her history dates back to at least 1865 and possibly earlier.

Price: 4999.99 USD

Location: Berkeley, California

End Time: 2023-11-18T02:10:57.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD