The Ballarat Rowing Club Banks Challenge Cup

MakerAttributed to Edwards & Kaul (Australian)

Date1874

Object number00032245

NameTrophy

MediumSilver, wood

DimensionsOverall: 390 x 190 x 170 mm, 1.5 kg

ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis silver Banks Challenge Cup trophy was awarded to John D Irvine, stroke of the Union Bank crew in January 1881. The octagonal base is decorated with eight silver shields documenting the cup's previous recipients. The cup is engraved with an image of four men in rowing shell with a yacht in the background. As the trophy bears no maker's mark it has been variously attributed to Edwards & Kaul of Melbourne and Edward Fisher of Geelong as it resembles the trophies produced from the workshops of both silversmiths. The Banks Challenge Cup was instituted in 1874 between two crews representing banks in Geelong and Ballarat. A winner three years running became the permanent owner. After Geelong won in 1874 and 1875, the race attracted top crews from various Melbourne banks. Melbourne's Union Bank began a three year winning streak in 1878 that won them the cup outright.HistoryRowing was a popular sport in late 19th and early 20th century Australia. It was considered a recreation worthy of a gentleman as well as being athletic. To retain its image as a gentleman's sport, amateurism was strictly maintained and the Victorian Rowing Association banned both those who raced for prize money and those who rowed boats for a living. Local rowing clubs and regatta's proliferated in the Australian colonies, especially in Victoria. Ballarat, with its influx of people and wealth due to the gold rush, had three rowing clubs by 1884. These were the Ballarat Rowing Club founded in 1862, the Ballarat City Rowing Club founded in 1870, and Wendouree Rowing Club founded in 1884. Consequently Ballarat became famous for its competitive rowing regattas that were held on either Lake Wendouree or Lake Learmonth.SignificanceThis trophy is representative of rowing in Australia in the 1870s and 1880s. The use of a coxed four rowing shell for this competition, as depicted in silver on the trophy face, as opposed to the more prestigious 'eight' is typical of the time period as eights were extremely rare in 1874 and only available from the United Kingdom.