FULL HULL MODEL OF THE AMERICA'S CUP DEFENDER "COLUMBIA" OF 1899

FULL HULL MODEL OF THE AMERICA'S CUP DEFENDER "COLUMBIA" OF 1899
Attributed to Gustav Graham (Sweden/America, 19th/20th Century). Hull built up from the solid, which has been hollowed. Topsides painted white and the bottom bronze. Mahogany veneer deck with a brass plaque engraved "Columbia America Cup 1899". Displayed on a simple mahogany stand, supported at the keel and with a bow post.
Note: This model is believed to have been made by Gustav Graham, one of the principal model builders for New York Yacht Club in the Late 19th Century. The companion model is in the Club collection.
Height on stand 10". Length 49.5". Width 9".
Provenance:
Thomas Darling, and thence by descent.
Christie's East, New York, February 1998, purchased by Richard Kelton.
The Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts.

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Columbia  was designed and built in 1898-99 by Nathaniel Herreshoff and the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company for J. Pierpont Morgan and Edwin Dennison Morgan of the New York Yacht Club. She was a fin keel sloop, with a nickel steel frame and Tobin bronze hull. She was launched June 10, 1899, and easily won the elimination trials against the rebuilt yacht Defender . Skippered by Charlie Barr, she won all three races against the British challenger, Shamrock , in the 1899 America's Cup. Colombia  was selected in 1901 to defend the Cup, again under the command of Charlie Barr, and she easily won all three races against Shamrock II . In 1903 Columbia  was refitted with the hope of being selected for a third time, but she was badly beaten in the selection trials by the yacht Reliance . She was the first vessel to win the trophy twice in a row, a record not equaled until Intrepid 's back-to-back wins in 1967 and 1970. Columbia  was broken up in 1915 at City Island and sold to Henry A. Hitner and Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for scrap. Today, the mast sits in the Forest Hills Gardens neighborhood of New York City in a park known as "Flagpole Green."