Rare Dauvray Cup medal for New York
 

During 1887 actress Helen Dauvray, who later married John Montgomery Ward, offered a trophy for the team that won the championship 3 years in a row. Detroit won in 1887 and New York won in 1888 and 1889.

Since the cup would always be held by the President of the winning club, she decided to give the players a medal that they could each keep. Beginning in 1887 medals would go to players on the team that won their first championship (of the 3 required to win the cup), as well as those players winning the championship for the third and last time.

The Hall of Fame has 3 Dauvray medals from Detroit players Dan Brouthers, Hardy Richardson, and Sam Thompson.

New York won in 1888 and 1889, so the NY players must have each received a medal for 1888. The HOF does not have any NY Dauvray medals, only Detroit.

Has anybody seen a Dauvray medal for an 1888 New York player?
Have any come up for auction?
If you find a picture of any New York medals please post them.
The back of the medals have the player's name and the position played.
Thanks.
Paul C.

Hasn't the team Dauvaray Trophy been missing for years ? When was it last seen.

The HOF believes there are no actual photos of the Dauvray cup.

Larry Bowman wrote an article in the National Pastime (don't know the issue date as I just have a photocopy).

He writes the following:
In 1893 Boston won the cup for a third time and was awarded permanent possession. A line drawing of the cup was printed in the Kansas City Star on October 8th, 1893. The cup then dropped out of the public eye and disappeared. The line drawing is the only likeness that I have found.

It appears the cup hasn't been seen in over 100 years.
At least a few of the Dauvray player medals survived and are in the HOF.
Just wondering if any New York medals survived.

Paul C.

Paul: Here's a drawing of the Dauvary Cup from the Detroit Free Press on Sat June 18,1887 ( hope it shows up well on attachment).

Thanks for the trophy picture.
I just learned that Hunt Auctions offered a few Detroit Dauvray medals a few years back, but no New York medals.

Deacon Whites.....
http://www.huntauctions.com/online/i...=859&lot_qual=

Lady Baldwins.....
http://www.huntauctions.com/online/i...=210&lot_qual=

Dauvray Cup, the Other Side
 

Attached is a depiction of the other side of the long-lost Dauvray Cup, from the The Atchison Daily Globe of June 9, 1887. Note that the silversmith, probably Gorham (so the design would be researchable!) elected to depict a scene from the Polo Grounds.


john thorn

Wow-- John Thorn!
 

For those not familiar with him; John is amongst the leading historians/writers of baseball history!

Welcome to the boards John and please chime in with those historical facts and notes whenever appropos!

Regards
Rich Klein

Fate of Dauvray Cup
 

Thanks for the kind greeting, Rich. For those who might wonder what became of the Dauvray Cup (for years the fate of the Temple Cup was unknown too, but it was located in the Temple family and then acquired by the Hall of Fame), see the attached note from the Morning Oregonian (Portland, OR) Monday, October 09, 1893. Some baseball version of Indiana Jones might pick up the scent.

john thorn

John: Is this the last time the Dauvray Cup was mentioned (1893)? Also please explain the article to me. It states Boston won three times. What are the three times it is referring to ? I think the Cup was first given out in 1887 to the Wolverines.

insidethewrapper - I believe the Cup was to be permanently given to the team that won 3 championships in a row. I assume that means Boston won in 1891, 1892, and 1893 to take the Cup. NY won in 1888 and 1889. Since it wasn't three times they didn't win the Cup, but the players may have received individual medals.

John...
 

In your research have you ever read about Dauvray medals being given to players other than 1887 Detroit players?

Detroit medals are found in the HOF and a few went up for auction, but medals given to subsequent winners NY and Boston have not been documented (to my knowledge).

Do you think NY or Boston Dauvray medals were given to the players, or did Mrs. Dauvray stop giving them after 1887?

The three Boston victories surely included 1891, when Boston won the flag in both the NL and AA and (there was no postseason series), 1892 (Boston defeated second-half winner Cleveland in a postseason series capping the NL's split-season format) and 1893 (again no postseason series).

According to the The Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago, IL) of Saturday, August 27, 1887, medals were to be awarded only to th ewinning teams's players, not their opponents ... which will explain the absence of St. Louis medals for 1887. As I speculated in an earlier post, both the cup and the medals were wrought by Gorham of New York (not Tiffany, as sometimes is stated in recent books). These were displayed (sans inscription, clearly) at the Gorham showrooms in New York. I am unaware of medals being struck for any season following 1887.

john thorn

I have done a rather thorough scouring of the newspapers and the trail is cold after 1893. Sporting Life on November 4 provides a dispatch from Pittsburgh dated Oct 31: "Harry Staley is still here, a guest of Jimmy Galvin.... Staley brought the Dauvray Cup with him. It is on exhibition in a Sixth street show window." In the next week's issue of SL, Hank Gastright promised Cincinnati fans that "the famous trophy will be exhibited here before the call to duty is heard in the spring."

With that, a dead end.

john thorn

Thanks John. Hard to believe it hasn't shown up somewhere. Maybe it was melted down. Maybe it is sitting in someone's basement gathering dust . Someone needs to follow it down from the Boston owner's family etc of the 1890's . Great research project. Should be some survivor's since it is only a couple or more generations back. Maybe it was sold in the 1919 when Boston sold Ruth to New York cause they needed some money, as some suggested, to finance a broadway play.