An excellent silverplate model of the famous schooner AMERICA, it is unique in that the yacht is complete even below the trophy's water line and comes apart from its silver and mahogany base made to look like waves on an active sea. The model bears AMERICA's famous eagle carving on the stern along with great on deck details such as the yacht's tiller arm and capstan.
The foremost historic racing yacht ever to sail, the Schooner AMERICA won a silver cup worth 100 British Guineas put up by the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1851. This race established the longest competed for trophy in world yacht racing and all sports in general- the America's Cup, named for this schooner, the first vessel to win the famous race. For her speed at sail she was called a "Hawk among the Pigeons".
The model bears an engraved plaque - "J. Park Dougall, M.D., Commodore, California Yacht Club, 1929". The maker's mark PAIRPOINT is stamped onto the keel, visible when the model is removed from its base. Dr. Dougall is remembered by the California Yacht Club for inaugurating the renewal of their Santa Barbara Island Race in 1929. Dougall was also a well-known doctor in Southern California, assisting the California District Attorney's office and briefly doctor for gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.
Pairpoint Manufacturing Company was founded by Thomas J. Pairpoint in 1880 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It soon joined with the glassworks nearby and made glass, silver-plated pieces, and lamps. Still in business today, Pairpoint is America's oldest glass company. Pierpoint pieces are in the collections of over 30 museums including the Smithsonian, the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
