Description:

A fine Australian gold greyhound coursing cup and cover, circa 1875, raised on a circular fluted and beaded foot and stem. the bowl finely chased with scrolling leaves; above a band of acanthus leaves and with a band of beading, the domed cover with further chasing and a detailed cast figure of a dog handler and a greyhound, unsigned

21.5 cm high, 283 grams

George Plant (1834-1895) arrived in Melbourne in 1855 on the ship “Oliver Lang”. The following year he purchased the Peacock Inn Hotel in Northcote, and was to run it for the rest of his life. In the 1870s he entered local politics, representing the Epping Road Board as part of the Shire of Jika Jika and the Borough of Northcote.

Plant was a keen member of The Victorian Coursing Club Committee and a regular entrant in coursing events. He won the Sunbury Stakes Silver Ewer at the first public meeting held by the Victorian Club in 1873 with one of his dogs, Nicodemos. Plant was a keen stable owner of greyhounds and a contestant of many major coursing events, including the 1876 Waterloo Cup, the 1878 Derby & Oaks Stakes and the Williamstown & Wyndham Queen's Plate Stakes.

The Gold Cup is of exceptionally fine quality and workmanship, but unfortunately for historical and scholarly interest, the cup is unmarked. However, it was obviously manufactured in one of the more important workshops of the 19th century. Given the location of the coursing events that George Plant participated in, it could have been manufactured in the workshops of Edward Fischer, of Geelong. Fischer is known to have manufactured coursing trophies, some designed by keen greyhound owner and participant, Frederick Woodhouse, (for examples, see The Altmann Collection, National Gallery of Victoria and referenced in “Nineteenth Century Australian Silver by J.B. Hawkins. Volume 2, p262”, the Werribee Park Stakes Coursing Trophy, Geelong Advertiser 22 May, 1875). However, the design characteristics of the Cup suggest that the manufacturer could also have been Christian Quist of Sydney. Regardless of who is attributed as the maker of the cup, this is an extremely rare and finely crafted item of Australian goldsmithing.

Provenance: Plant Family, by descent