Washington Winter Show 2015

49 previous page﹐ top﹕ Figure 7: The America’s Cup , glass negative, c. 1900. (Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.). The Garrard company is justifiably proud of their work to produce the America’s Cup trophy. In 2012, Garrard CEO Eric Deardorff commented, “this is the biggest, most impactful piece that we have done for a sporting event in the history of Garrard.” ( America’s Cup Uncovered , Episode 13, January 9, 2012.) previous page﹐ bottom﹕ Figure 8: The Astor Cup won by DEFENDER , unknown maker, possibly English, c. 1895 (Courtesy Mystic Seaport). Cup , every year, from 1882 until 1897, to award the winner of the Club’s annual race off Newport, Rhode Island. 21 After Mr. Goelet’s death in 1897, Colonel John Jacob Astor continued the tradition, procuring an Astor Cup for the same race. 22 Colonel Astor also underwrote numerous silver trophies for the winners of the America’s Cup trial races during the 1890s (Figure 8). 23 In the 20th century, the once small and insular sailing community and their prized trophies grew to become a professional sports community with established traditions. Individual and team racing also led to the creation of the Inter- Collegiate Sailing Association, now with over 230 member colleges. 24 Competitions between academic institutions result in awards of trophies for the winning teams and specific members of their crew. Many of these trophies have been made to commemorate and honor individuals who significantly enhanced and supported the sport of sailing. The John F. Kennedy Memorial Trophy was presented to the United States Naval Academy as a testament to the late President’s “love for sailing… perpetuated in the annual competition for the trophy.” 25 The silver, montieth-shaped trophy is awarded to the winner of the National Collegiate Large Yacht Championship. Other trophies are school specific, and awarded to a particular member of a sailing crew. The Stephen W. Gerber trophy is presented to the “skipper of the Naval Academy vessel with the best corrected time in either the Annapolis to Newport race, in odd years, or the Newport to Bermuda race, in even years.” 26 Whether a member of the United States Navy, an entrepreneur, or college-age sailor, the pursuit of victory at sea continues. And just as in the past naval tradition, the importance of speed and maneuverability were often the key to success. As a sport, sailing races and regattas maintain a fiercely competitive spirit, and the awards still hold a highly symbolic esteem. As President Kennedy remarked, the sea changes, ships change, and so to do the trophies awarded to those who compete in this rigorous and athletic pursuit, but what does not change is the perpetual love we have for the sea. These silver vessels of victory tie their form, material, meaning, and recipient ever closer to our national history, to the sport of sailing and to the ocean. Leslie B. Jones is the Curator of the loan exhibit “Vessels of Victory” which is the subject of this essay. She is the Curator and Director of Historical Resources & Programming for the White House Historical Association. Mrs. Jones has recently accepted a new position as Curator of Decorative Arts at the Cheekwood Estate in Nashville, TN. 1. President John F. Kennedy, Remarks on Australian Ambassador’s dinner for America’s Cup race, Newport, Rhode Island, 14 September 1962 (JFKPOF-04-005 series number 03, http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPOF-040-005.aspx#) 2. Dr. James Brown Scott, Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War between the United States and France; Naval Operations 1798–1801 (The Office of Naval Records and Library, US Department of the Navy: Washington, DC, approved March 15, 1934; 1938) p. 2. 3. Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships , Vol. II, (United States Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1963) p. 170-171. 4. Letter from Thomas Whitney to Rufus King, October 25, 1800 (Original letter owned by Lloyd’s of London, England) 5. Donald L. Fennimore and Ann K. Wagner, “Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner’s Military and Civil Silver and Gold.” The Magazine Antiques (October 2007) p. 46. 6. Department of the Navy, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships , Vol. II, (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1981) p. 174. 7. New York Commercial Advertiser , September 8, 1812. 8. Letter from Thomas Fletcher to James Fosdick Fletcher, January 19, 1814 (Thomas Fletcher papers, Winterthur Library: Winterthur, DE) 9. American Beacon and Commercial Diary (Norfolk, Virginia, June 16, 1817). 10. Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships , Vol. VII, (United States Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1981) p. 415. 11. Letter from Robert Wharton, Daniel Smith, Robert Smith, Jonathan Smith and Samuel Relf to Stephen Decatur, February 11, 1818. (National Trust for Historic Preservation, Decatur House Collection.) 12. Berry B. Tracy, Classical America 1815–1845 (Newark Museum: Newark, NJ, 1963) p. 95. 13. Note: In order to facilitate over 150 years of winning team names, engraved on the trophy base, the America’s Cup has been added to twice. Originally measuring 27 inches, the first addition was made to the base by Tiffany & Co. at the request of the New York Yacht Club to accommodate the engraving of the 1958 race winners. A second base was added in 2003, making the trophy approximately 43 inches tall. 14. Christopher Clarey, “Sailing: In the beginning, when there was ‘no second’ in the America’s Cup.” New York Times, June 22, 2007. 15. “America’s Cup Deed of Gift,” New York Yacht Club, July 8, 1857. 16. Garrard Heritage (www.chcgarrard.com) 17. “The Oldest Sporting Trophy” The America’s Cup Website, July 9, 2012. (http:// www.americascup.com/en/34th-americas-cup/972_-en-The-Oldest-Sporting- Trophy-fr-Le-Trophee-Sportif-le-Plus-Ancien-es-El-Trofeo-Deportivo-Mas-An tiguo- it-Il-Piu-Antico-Trofeo-della-Storia-dello-Sport-.html) 18. Matthew Sheahan, “The Agent Mariner.” Financial Times, June 21, 2014, p. 13. 19. “Three Famous Silver Yachting Testimonials,” The Jewelers’ Circular and Horological Review (Wednesday, October 18, 1893, Vol. XXVII, No. 12) p. 1. 20. John W. Miles, “Yacht Trophies” The Decorator and Furnisher ” (November 1885 vol. 7 no. 2) p. 44. 21 Winfield Martin Thompson and Thomas V. Lawson, The Lawson History of the America’s Cup: A Record of Fifty Years (Sheridan House, Inc.: Hunt Valley, MD, January 1, 1986) p. 377. 22. Ibid. 23. Ibid, p. 160. 24. College Sailing, “About” (www.collegesailing.org) 25. ICYRA Trophies, United States Naval Academy (http://www.usna.edu/Sailing/ trophies.php) 26. Ibid, Midshipmen Trophies.