Object of the Month December 2020

Silver presentation tray.

NPS

This large and magnificent silver presentation tray, made by Jacobi & Co. of Baltimore, was actually a gift on Christmas Eve 1908 to Capt. John Ridgely, fifth owner of Hampton. His initials "JR of H" are included on the elaborately chased and repoussé floral border. The center is engraved with a special dedication: "To/ John Ridgely of Hampton/as a token of/appreciation/by the/ Hunting Men/of the/Elkridge Hunt Club/1908." Capt. John and his sons (John, Jr., David, and Julian) were all avid foxhunters and rode with the Elkridge Hunt. The Captain’s wife, Helen West Stewart Ridgely, recorded the presentation in her diary for 1908:

Thursday December 24
Mr & Mrs E. A. Jackson arrived in their auto in the afternoon with a beautiful silver platter 1 ½ feet in diameter which they presented to my husband in the name of the Hunting men of the Elkridge Fox Hunting Club. This was in recognition of his courtesy in allowing them to hunt over Hampton with never a bill for breaking down fences &c. His initials J.R. of H are incorporated in the pattern around the border.