realistically modelled after a fox which was hunted near Ashlands and mounted by Messrs. Potter and Sons of Billesdon, the conforming base cast as rockwork, on ebonised plinth with single silver-mounted drawer, the silver mounts by Charles Henry Dumenil, London, 1888, finely cast as oak leaves and acorns and enclosing a plaque with an engraved inscription, the drawer containing a gilt-tooled leather-bound book listing the names of the subscribers to the testimonial, Together With a framed print after Sir Leslie Matthew Ward, number 239 from the Vanity Fair 'Men of the Day' series depicting Sir Bache Cunard, the back with biographic details
the base 95cm wide, the fox approximately 93.5cm wide, approximate gross weight of the fox 508oz 1dwt, 15,800gr (3)

The inscription reads 'Presented on November 1st 1888 By The Members of Sir Bache Cunard's Hunt in Recognition of the Way in Which He Has Hunted The Country During The Past 10 Years'.

Provenance:
Presented to Sir Bache Cunard, 3rd Bt. (1851-1925) on 1 November 1888 by members of the Billesdon Hunt at the Corn Exchange, Market Harborough, and by descent to his brother
Sir Gordon Cunard, 4th Bt. (1857-1933) and by descent to his son
Sir Edward Cunard, 5th Bt. (1890-1962) at which time the baronetcy reverts to the family of his great uncle William (1825-1906), the second son of Sir Samuel Cunard (1787-1865), 1st Bt. and by descent
first to Sir Henry Cunard, 6th Bt. (1909-1973) and then to his brother Sir Guy Cunard, 7th Bt. (1911-1989) on whose death the baronetcy becomes extinct, and thence by descent.

Literature:
The Globe, 'The Members of Sir Bache Cunard's Hunt Have Determined to Present a Testimonial', 31 March 1888.
Leicester Journal, 'Testimonials to Sir Bache Cunard and William Grant', 12 October 1888.
The Illustrated London News, 'Fox-Hunt Testimonial', 17 November 1888, p.587, illustrated.
The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, 'Testimonial to Sir Bache Cunard', 17 November 1888.
F. Palliser de Costobadie, Annals of The Billesdon Hunt (Mr Fernie’s) 1856-1913, London, 1914, pp. 179-182.
J. Culme, The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, Jewellers and Allied Traders 1838-1914, Woodbridge, 1996, vol. I, p. 467.

Sir Bache Cunard, 3rd Bt. (1851-1925)

Sir Bache Cunard was born on 15 May 1851 into a privileged family, his Canadian born grandfather, Samuel Cunard (1787-1865), having founded the Cunard Steamship line. At the suggestion of the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, Queen Victoria conferred a baronetcy on Samuel Cunard in recognition of his services to the country by establishing the Cunard line of steamships and so he became 1st Baronet Cunard. Sir Bache’s father, Sir Edward (1816-1869), 2nd Baronet, was the eldest son of Sir Samuel and his wife Susan Duffus. Sir Edward married Mary McEvers in 1849 and had eight children, including Sir Bache.

Sir Bache was humorously described by Vanity Fair magazine, published as part of the ‘Men of the Day’ series in February 1881, noting:

‘He was born nine-and-twenty years ago, the grandson of an eminent steamboat proprietor hailing from America. Being thus by birth a Cunarder, he resolved to become a sportsman. He bought a polo pony. He bought Holt. He bought a yacht. When Mr Tailby’s legs got too short for his horses, he bought the Billesden [sic] hounds, and conquered the Quorn. He has not yet bought a seat in Parliament or a wife. He rides well. He is a courteous Master of Foxhounds, and very popular.’

This description, though satirical in nature, is perhaps not entirely inaccurate as Sir Bache did seem to be mostly interested in sporting and countryside pursuits. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge, later serving as a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Leicestershire. He married, in 1895, Maud Alice Burke, and with her had a daughter Nancy. By 1911 the couple had parted ways, with Lady Cunard spending her time in London, where she was known as a generous society hostess, while Sir Bache opted to stay at Nevill Holt Hall in Leicestershire. Nevill Holt was originally purchased by Sir Bache’s younger brother Edward but on Edward’s death in 1877 Sir Bache inherited it and spent much of his time there.

Financial pressures led to the sale of Nevill Holt and Sir Bache ended up living at Haycock House in Cambridgeshire where he died in November 1925.

The Testimonial

The enormous scale of the Sir Bache Cunard testimonial shows the esteem in which he must have been held by his contemporaries and is also, probably, a reflection of his involvement in settling a rather complicated disagreement between the Quorn and Billesdon hunts in 1878, when Sir Bache became Master of the Billesdon Hunt. A review of the dispute can be found in Horse and Hound, ‘Boodle’s, Billesdon and a Bitter Dispute’, 12 March 1982 and it is further discussed at length by F. Palliser de Costobadie, Annals of The Billesdon Hunt (Mr Fernie’s) 1856-1913, London, 1914.

The dispute arose over the question of who should be allowed to hunt on the land around Billesdon, in Leicestershire. It was traditionally the Quorn who hunted this land and the issue was to come to a head in 1878 when William Ward Tailby retired as Master of the Hunt and the question arose of how the Billesdon should be hunted in future. The matter was a hot topic in the local and London press at the time and was submitted for consideration to the Masters of Foxhounds’ Committee at Boodles’ Club, who traditionally held sway in these matters.

Having considered that the Quorn had traditionally held the rights to hunt these lands on the one hand and that many of the land owners and farmers, preferring the regime founded by Mr Tailby, did not wish to allow the Quorn to use their lands on the other, the committee at Boodles issued a ‘round robin’ noting:

‘Being most anxious to bring matters to an amicable conclusion, and having fully considered both sides of the question:

We venture to suggest that Mr Coupland, the Master of the Quorn, having established his absolute right to that portion of the Quorn country, formerly hunted by Mr Tailby, should not insist on resuming it at present and should agree to permit Sir Bache Cunard to continue to hunt that portion of the country, on the understanding that it reverts to the Quorn, and that the land-owners should use their best endeavours to assist Mr Coupland, or any future Master of the Quorn, on the retirement of Sir Bache Cunard’.
(de Costobadie, op. cit., pp. 166-167).

This compromise allowed time for tempers to calm and was followed by ten years with Sir Bache as Master. After serving for a decade in that role at Billesdon Sir Bache decided to resign, at which time it was ‘… universally acknowledged, [Sir Bache] had, during that long period, worthily upheld the glorious traditions of the hunt which his famous predecessor, Mr Tailby, had bequeathed to him, and moreover had gained the goodwill and esteem of all classes with whom he came in contact.’ (de Costobadie, op. cit., p. 179).

The preparations for the Testimonial started early, with a committee comprising J. W. Logan, R. A. Falkner (Hon. Secretary), C. W. B. Fernie, J. H. Douglass, G. Coleman, and S. N. Bankar convening and with the project mentioned in the press as early as 31 March 1888 when it was noted that ‘the members of Sir Bache Cunard’s Hunt have determined to present a testimonial to the master. It is to consist of a fine life-size model of a fox in solid silver and will be mounted on an ebony plinth.’ (The Globe, 'The Members of Sir Bache Cunard's Hunt Have Determined to Present a Testimonial', 31 March 1888).

The committee was able to raise some £430 from nearly 200 subscribers whose names are all recorded in the gilt-tooled leather-bound book which is included with the present lot. Among the subscribers were Lady Mary, the Duchess of Hamilton; Charles Witherington Bruce Fernie, who was to replace Sir Bache as Master and who also served on the committee; Sir Arthur Grey Hazlerigg, 12th Bt., a landowner around Noseley in Leicestershire; Sir Rudolph Edgar Francis de Trafford, 5th Bt.; Thomas Kane McClintock-Bunbury, 2nd Baron Rathdonnell and even a Miss Cunard, presumably one of Sir Bache’s sisters. Alongside the funds to commission the fox from Rowland Ward and Co. Ltd., a further £175 was raised to produce a cup for William Grant, huntsman to Sir Bache. The presentation, at the Corn Exchange Market Harborough, sounds to have been a lavish affair with much toasting and celebrations to the contributions of Sir Bache and welcoming the new Master, Charles Witherington Bruce Fernie.

Much is made about the testimonial in various contemporary publications, many drawing particular attention to it being modelled by James Rowland Ward, F.Z.S. and with de Costobadie noting that ‘The fox, of which this testimonial was a model, was killed near Ashlands, and very skillfully placed in position by Messrs. Potter and Son, the well-known taxidermists of Billesdon’ (de Costobadie, op. cit., p. 179). Particularly effusive was the Illustrated London News which records the presentation in its 17 November 1888 issue, noting:

'A testimonial was presented to Sir Bache Cunard, Bart., of Nevill Holt, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, on Nov. 1, which is regarded with much interest in fox-hunting circles. The members of Sir Bache Cunard's Hunt subscribed to make him a gift that should testify their appreciation of the manner in which he has hunted the South Leicestershire country during the past ten years. It was decided by the contributors that the testimonial should take the form of a life-size fox, to be produced in the highest style of art, and to be cast in solid silver. The commission was intrusted [sic] to Mr. Rowland Ward, F.Z.S., of Piccadilly, who modelled the fox from life, representing the attitude just as reynard is drawing across an opening from covert to covert, and on alert, as through in recognition of some suspicious sound or incident. The original model has been cast of solid silver, 519 ounces of the valuable metal being used. The figure has the merit of strong truthfulness to nature, and the work has a degree of artistic power which renders it superior to ordinary productions of the silversmith.'
(The Illustrated London News, 'Fox-Hunt Testimonial', 17 November 1888, p.587).

Rowland Ward and Co. Ltd.

James Rowland Ward was born in 1848 and is no doubt best remembered as the founder of Rowland Ward Limited on Piccadilly. The company was rightly regarded as the greatest taxidermists of the late 19^th century and indeed created a whole subsection of the genre with their so called Wardian furniture, namely domestic items made from animal parts. Ward was born into a family with connections to the taxidermy trade, with the first shop set up by his father Edwin in 1857, going on to receive a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria. Despite this it was James who was to become the most famous member of the family.

It was after his father’s death in 1878 that James was to gain his greatest fame and opened his shop on Piccadilly which he called ‘The Jungle’. As well as his business acumen James also had an artistic flare with a gift for painting and modelling, indeed he initially had an ambition to become a sculptor. He used this skill to work up models in clay that could be used to make items for the shop. His skill is clearly shown in the present model which has been described as ‘…. probably the most important item in silver made from Rowland Ward’s own model is a figure of a fox, weighing 16kg (519oz), presented to Sir Bache Cunard Bt. by the members of his hunt in 1888.’ (J. Culme, The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, Jewellers and Allied Traders 1838-1914, Woodbridge, 1996, vol. I, p. 467).