Beschreibung:

FABERGÉ: THE C.K.G. BILLINGS "LOVING CUP" A MASSIVE FABERGÉ SILVER AND SHADED ENAMEL PRESENTATION KOVSH, MOSCOW, CIRCA 1909 The body enameled with lobes of colorful flowerheads and whirlpool motifs against a fully enameled ground of geometric designs in a wide ranging palette, the domed foot and stylized bird-form handle similarly enameled, contained in original fitted oak case with a brass carrying handle at each end, the interior satin liner black stamped in Cyrillic, 'Fabergé, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Kiev, London', below the Russian Imperial Eagle, the exterior side of the case black stamped, 'C.K.G.Billings, Oyster Bay, N.Y.', the cover with a silver presentation plaque applied with the Russian Imperial Eagle and engraved in Cyrillic, 'From the Moscow Imperial Society to Encourage Trotting Horse Breeding to C.K.G.Billings in Memory of His Visit to the Moscow Hippodrome and the Run of His Queen of Trotters Lou Dillon, Moscow, 26th June 1909', marked 'K. Fabergé' in Cyrillic below Imperial warrant, Cyrillic initials of master Fedor Rückert, and 88 standard, and with scratched inventory number 24807. 16 in. over handle, case 14 1/4 x 18 1/4 in. Provenance: C.K.G.Billings; thence by descent. Note: On July 12th, 1909, a headline of the New York Times read, "Russians Enthusiastic Over Lou Dillon - Loving Cup for Billings." Cornelius Kingsley Garrison Billings (1861-1937), one of America's wealthiest citizens at the turn of the twentieth century, was a dedicated horseman, a leading member of the Jockey Club, and renowned for his numerous famous champion horses including Uhlan, The Harvester and Lou Dillon. He was also part owner of Omar Khayyam, winner of the Kentucky Derby in 1917. In 1909 he took his star horses to Europe and Moscow to stage exhibitions of their prowess and was everywhere warmly received. He showed the trotter, Lou Dillon, known as the Queen of Trotters, in Moscow and the horse's speed was seen there as unprecedented. In fact Lou Dillon was the first trotter to trot a mile under two minutes, registering one minute fifty-eight and a half seconds in Memphis in 1903. During his visit to Moscow Billings was feted and presented with this superb kovsh, described by the New York Times as a "loving cup." Born in Saratoga Springs, New York, C.K.G. Billings was moved with his family to Chicago at an early age where in 1901 he was to become chairman of the board of the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company of Chicago. Relocating to New York, Billings caused a sensation in 1903 by giving a dinner party for thirty-six men at the exclusive restaurant, Sherry's on Fifth Avenue, with all diners seated on horseback, and with each horse fitted with a dining tray. Horses rode the elevator to the fourth floor grand ballroom where arranged in a circle they ate from troughs. Each diner was attended by a groom dressed in appropriate livery, and drank champagne from an iced bottle in his saddlebag by way of a rubber tube. He built an extraordinary mansion at a reported cost of $2,000,000, which he occupied, together with his wife, children and twenty-three servants, in 1907, on twenty-five acres in upper Manhattan on the site of historic Fort Tryon, the highest point of the island. Known as Tryon Hall, he sold the mansion to John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1917 but it was destroyed by fire in 1925. The Cloisters, the medieval art branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, now stands on the site, which was donated to New York City by Rockefeller, and called Fort Tryon Park. Remnants of the Billings estate remain to be seen today including the stone gatehouse and the S-curve access driveway rising from the Henry Hudson Parkway below. Billings also owned a magnificent estate in Locust Valley on the north shore of Long Island, New York, known as Farnsworth, where he moored his two hundred and forty foot yacht, Vanadis. Additionally he owned other notable properties in Wisconsin and Virginia. He was an art collector and his collection, inc