Another F. S. Kelly ‘Henley Prize’ went under the Hammer

F. S. Kelly

Greg Denieffe writes:

A new Sporting Memorabilia sale by Graham Budd Auctions took place in Sotheby’s, 34-35 New Bond Street, London, on 5 and 6 November. The full catalogue is online and as in recent sales, there were a few lots (240-245) of interest to collectors of rowing memorabilia. Undoubtedly, the star ‘rowing’ item was a Ladies’ Plate Medal won by F. S. Kelly in 1899.

Lot 240

A Henley Regatta prize medal for the Ladies Challenge Cup in 1899 won by Frederick Septimus Kelly, the Eton College Stroke, the rim named to F.S. KELLY. F.S. Kelly later rowed for Oxford and Leander and won a gold medal at the 1908 Olympic Games as a member of the coxed eight. By profession he was a musician and composer. Having survived Gallipoli, Kelly was killed in action in the last days of the Battle of the Somme. Estimate: £300 - £500

Sold for £240 (plus commission, 17,5 %)

Early in 2012, HTBS reported that Kelly’s Pineapple Cup sold at Bonhams for £3,800. This was his prize for winning the 1905 Diamond Challenge Sculls, his third victory in four years. His first win in the Diamonds was for Balliol College, Oxford, when he won in 1902 beating Raymond Etherington-Smith in the final. Balliol College has the sculls in their historic collections centre in St Cross Church. The following year, sculling for Leander Club, he retained his title beating Julius Beresford, and in 1905 he defeated Harry Blackstaffe. Not to be outdone, the River and Rowing Museumin Henley has a 1905 scull in their collection.

Kelly, a New South Welshman by birth – his father was Irish – also won The Grand Challenge Cup at Henley three times in succession (1903-1906), The Stewards’ Challenge Cup in 1906 and a gold medal for Great Britain at the 1908 Olympics in the eights. He is remembered on the Bisham War Memorial.

Two other lots caught my eye:

Lot 244

Rowing programmes, Durham Regatta 22.6.1938; Maidenhead Amateur Regatta 3.8.1929; Henley Royal Regatta 2.7.38 & 5.7.52; Oxford University Summer Eights 26.5.1936, 22.5.1937 & 24.5.46; Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race 30.3.1946; Oxford University Torpids’ Race Card 21.2.1939; the lot also including a 12-page booklet Henley 1839, red cloth boards; and an Ouse Amateur Sailing Club Regatta at Denver (11). Estimate: £130 - £160

Sold for £110 +

A very diverse collection that would probably do well on eBay split into individual lots. The Henley booklet is rather grand considering it only consists of 12 pages.

Lot 245

A portrait of the British rower Tony Butcher by an unknown hand, oil on canvas, 68.5 by 53cm., 27 by 21in., framed. Estimate: £200 - £300

Sold for £150+

I like the composition of this portrait. The decorated oars are clearly important mementos of a rowing career that saw victory in the 1947 University Boat Race (Cambridge) and The Grand Challenge Cup in 1948 (Thames Rowing Club) and participation in the 1948 Olympic Games (Great Britain 4-).

My first thought on seeing this picture was that Cyril Bird would have enjoyed it. He used the pen name ‘Fougasse’ and in 1948 had a cartoon published in Punch with the caption "Yes, I did row a little at one time – why, how did you discover that?"  Perhaps Oscar Wilde was right, when he opined in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying that, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life”.

The other rowing related lots sold for:
241 sold for £160+
242 sold for £240+
243 sold for £100+

All but Lot 245 sold to room bidders.

Auction Watch

HTBS's Greg Denieffe writes,

The next Sporting Memorabilia auction by Graham Budd Auctions will be held on 13 and 14 May 2013. The full catalogue is here.

The ‘Rowing’ section is to be held on 13 May and consists of lots 214-218 and they are described in the auction catalogue as follows:

Lot 214 - Three pewter Wadham College Oxford ‘Fours’ rowing trophies.
Comprising: a pair of ‘First Prize’ double-handled tankards for 1876 and 1877, complete with the names of the crews and coxswain and bearing the college crest, glass bases (one cracked), height 14.5 cm., 5 3/4in., the other a single handled lidded tankard ‘Scratch Fours’ trophy for 1879, also with a glass base, height 16cm., 6 1/4in., all three manufactured by James Dixon & Sons and retailed by Rowell of Oxford. The name of Charles J.Rae (Coxswain) is common to all three trophies and he was almost certainly the recipient. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1858.
Estimate £150-250

“One of the Presidents” by Spy, Vanity Fair 22 March 1890.

Lot 215 - Five Vanity Fair prints including three oarsmen.
Comprising A C Bourne [A C Bourne is a misprint and should read R C Bourne], Lord Ampthill and Mr S D Muttlebury; sold together with the golfers Horace Harold Hilton & H Mallaby-Deeley mostly by Spy; the lot also including a Vanity Fair style print for 'Titch' of the Cambridge University Rugby Football Club, the group a mixture of framed & folio (6)
Estimate £120-150

Lot 216 - A photographic presentation of Cambridge Town Rowing Club 1913.
Two period photos in a double mount with manuscript legend, published by Stearn & Sons, Cambridge, mounted, framed & glazed, overall 78 by 45cm, 3 by 18in.
Estimate £100-150

Lot 217 - A photograph album relating to rowing at Cambridge University in 1926.
Numerous professional black and white photographs of the college, its rowers and competition, some loose photographs within the album as well.
Estimate £150-250

Lot 218 - A small poster for the 1955 European Rowing Championships at Gent.
Published in Belgium, backed onto linen, 28 by 20cm, 11 by 8in.
Estimate £75-100

The Watersportbaan is a five lane rowing race course in the Belgian city of Ghent that was first used in 1954. The Wikipedia page has a fine picture of the 1906 Grand Challenge Cup winners - Royal Club Nautique de Gand. They retained the ‘Grand’ in 1907 but were not allowed to compete at Henley Royal Regatta the following year although they did not wish to anyway! See lot 393 below.

HTBS readers will also be interested in two lots not included in the rowing section. The first, lot 3, is included in the ‘General & Mixed Sports’ section and the second, lot 393 in the ‘Olympic Games & Athletics’ section, being held on the 14 May.

Lot 3 - Desborough of Taplow (The Right Hon. Lord) Fifty Years of Sport at Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, Harrow and Winchester.
Various editors, published in 3 large volumes, 2 in 1913 in deluxe boards and the third in standard boards published in 1922
Estimate £75-100

Lot 393 - A superb and very large period photograph of the London 1908 Olympic Games Regatta at Henley.
The image in fine condition and measuring 70 by 96cm, 27½ by 37¾ in, mounted with original printed title reading THE OLYMPIC REGATTA, HENLEY, JULY 31st 1908, FINAL, LEANDER v BELGIUM, and with a printed legend beneath detailing the crews and result, under glass in original wooden frame, overall 101 by 124cm, 40 by 49in.
Estimate £600-800

There are many similar photographs on the internet: The following one was taken a few seconds before the one in lot 393 but from a slightly different angle. The finish judge has the flag raised, ready to declare Leander as Olympic Champions. The progress board, if that is what it was called in 1908, has the crews as BELGIUM and LEANDER. Great Britain had two crews in the event, Cambridge, winners of a bronze medal, being the second.  There were only four events in 1908 and both loosing semi-finalists were awarded bronze medals. Belgium was represented by Royal Club Nautique de Gand. You will find a list of all the medallists here.

The two-day sale takes place in the saleroom at Sotheby's, 34-35 New Bond Street, London, W1A 2AA.

Olympic Rowing Memorabilia Up For Auction!

Here is an interesting report from HTBS’s Greg Denieffe in England. Two auctions on Olympic Games memorabilia is coming up this week, Greg writes:

Two important auctions of Olympic Games memorabilia take place in London this week just days before the 2012 event gets underway. Posters, torches, medals, photographs, tickets and programmes from previous Olympiads will go under the hammer.

On Tuesday, 24 July, Graham Budd Auctions, which specialises in sporting memorabilia, will sell more than 600 lots with items from every Olympic Games since Athens, 1896, the first of the modern era. You can check out their catalogue here.

It is simply a wonderful treasure trove of sporting memorabilia. There are a few rowing related lots but for HTBS readers, lots 288 to 291 will be of special interest:

Lot 288. A 1936 Berlin Olympic Games gold medal winner’s diploma awarded to British rower Jack Beresford for victory in the double sculls with Dick Southwood. Estimate: £2,500 - £2,500.

Lot 289. An International Olympic Committee diploma awarded to the British rower Jack Beresford. Estimate: £1,500 - £2,500.

Lot 290. Jack Beresford’s C.B.E. honour diploma. Estimate: £200 - £300.

Lot 291. Jack Beresford’s blazer badges. Estimate: £400 - £600.

There are full details and photographs of all 4 lots and a search facility to identify the other rowing related lots.

At Bonhams on Wednesday, 15 July, many of the 215 lots date from 1948, the last time the Olympic Games was held in London. Britain was recovering from the Second World War and the so-called ‘Austerity Games’ took place at a time when food rationing was still in place. A record 59 countries sent teams, although Germany and Japan were not invited and the Soviet Union declined its invitation.

Of special interest is lot 36 which was covered in detail in the HTBS post on 28 June 2012, The Auction Of Pearce’s Rowing Memorabilia. With an estimate of £30,000 to £50,000 there won’t be many with deep enough pockets to take on the auctioneer.

Also of interest to collectors will be Lot 86 - A winner’s silver medal and official Olympic Games 1928 blazer badge won by British Olympian, Terrence ‘Terry’ O’Brien in the men’s coxless pairs. The circular medal, the obverse depicting a victorious athlete being carried by a crowd, the reverse depicting the Goddess Nike with “IX Olympiade Amsterdam 1928”, 55mm., two short spindles soldered to top and bottom, the blue cloth blazer badge embroidered with “Olympic Games 1928 Rowing” and a flying Union Jack flag; together with a framed and glazed portrait of Terry O’Brien. Estimate: £1,000 - 1,500.