A silver Imperial presentation racing trophy, Carl Tegelstein, St Petersburg, circa 1843

of tapering form, finely cast with scrolling acanthus leaves and flowers, flanked by handles formed from twisted vines, centred to one side with presentation inscription: Imperial / Racing Trophy / Lebedyany / 17th September 1843 in Cyrillic, to the other with the Imperial Eagle, the domed cover surmounted with a realistically cast sculpture of a horse, 84 standard

In apparent very good condition. Very minor surface scratches consistent with age and use.
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According to legend, the idea of producing superb Russian horses first occurred to the Orlov brothers after Catherine II's daring coup d'etat, when the European horses drawing Catherine's carriage gave out during the tense ride from Peterhof to St Petersburg to head off Peter III. The entire operation was put in jeopardy until some hardy yet unattractive Russian horses were harnessed from a nearby inn. Several years later, with the support of Empress Catherine II, Count Alexei Orlov-Chesmenski embarked on an ambitious horse-breeding programme near Voronezh on a scale unheard of at the time. Russia was one of the first countries to import English thoroughbreds, but it was decades of perseverance using mainly Arabian and Turkish horses which produced the elegant and strikingly beautiful breed named after him, that in many respects surpassed European ones.

It was not until the nineteenth century however, that a racing culture truly came into being. Its centre was near Lipetsk in the town of Lebedyan on the Don river, where in 1825 the first racing society was instituted. The all but defunct position of the nobility within the mechanisms of state led to enthusiastic reception for new amusements and no doubt contributed to the growing popularity of racing among the upper classes. In 1826 English studbooks were being published in Russia, by the mid thirties the Moscow horse racing society was established and in 1842 a magazine dedicated to the sport was launched. The establishment of the State Equestrian Administration in 1843, the year in which this trophy was awarded, is some mark of the rapid evolution of the sport that began in Lebedyan.