Dupree International Challenge Trophy – £17,000 at Charles Miller.
Estimated at £3000-5000 but sold at £17,000 was this Sheffield-hallmarked 128oz cup and cover with Victory finial and handles in the form of two racing hydroplanes.
Dupree International Challenge Trophy (detail) – £17,000 at Charles Miller.
The Dupree International Challenge Trophy was presented to the Portsmouth & South Sea Motorboat Club in 1932.
Named after Colonel Sir William Dupree (1856-1933), a local brewing magnate and early exponent of powerboat racing, it was awarded to winners of the local powerboat club until just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Fearing invasion, the club secretary had hidden this trophy, along with other valuables, but died before hostilities had ended.
It was not until the 1980s when builders were renovating the Queen’s Hotel in Southsea that it was discovered in a chimney breast. It is now thought to be the world’s second-oldest powerboat trophy, with only the Harmsworth Trophy of 1903 pre-dating it.
