07-15-2019 05:51 PM
I found this at a sale and just had to buy it! Can you help me identify it? Thanks in advance. Mickey
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07-15-2019 08:53 PM
Thanks YankeeBob! That's probably the closest we've come to an identity. With everything else that's been written, I'm going to go with:
Antique Silver Hoofed Cow Horn Trophy
You are bidding on an antique silver-hoofed cow horn trophy. It might have been used as an award in a horse shoe throwing contest or perhaps in a cow throwing contest at a Rodeo. It is 5" high and has an engraved silver "hoof". The horn is engraved: "Champion Throwers Trophy Won By Possessor" which may mean it was a trophy passed from winner to winner as new champions came along since there is no name on it. This old relic of a much earlier era is in very good preowned condition.
You eBayers have been very helpful and I thank you all.
07-15-2019 06:07 PM
Mickey, what part of the country did you find it in?
Debora
07-15-2019 06:20 PM
Looks like a cattle /animal horn and a blank that was never awarded, Professor who? Could be victorian or later. Does it say anything on the base of the silver part? Sterling? Numbers? Key is throwers.
I had a professor throw an eraser at me once while I was sleeping.
07-15-2019 06:26 PM
I found it locally, Seattle area.
07-15-2019 06:30 PM
He threw an eraser at you??? Best laugh I've had all day!! That's possessor, not professor!
The lady I bought it from said it was from the early 1900's. She thought it was from a horse shoe game club or something like that. There are no markings on the silver hoof that I could make out but it looks like sterling to me.
07-15-2019 06:34 PM
Actually, it says: "Won by Possessor."
So was there only the one trophy, passed from winner to winner? If you have it in your possession, you won it. Presumably, you could later lose it to someone else in a future competition.
Or did some winner of the thing go by the name / code name / user identification of "Possessor"?
Odd.
07-15-2019 06:40 PM - edited 07-15-2019 06:41 PM
@6291mickey wrote:
The lady I bought it from said it was from the early 1900's.
What were her reasons for dating it to the early 1900s? Provenance? What? I t might be that old, but her reasons for saying so would be clues as to what it is and where it's from.
07-15-2019 06:45 PM
The lady said she bought it from a 90 year old woman. That's why she said early 1900's. She thought it was some kind of trophy for horse shoe throwing.
07-15-2019 06:47 PM
Oops, sorry maybe that's why he threw it at me.
If they were recycling awards it sounds like something a small rural would do to save money on engraving.
07-15-2019 06:57 PM
I once lived in a small town that had an annual compeititon among businesses to see which business had the highest percentage of its employees donate blood in a Red Cross drive. The winning business got the trophy to display until another business outdid them.
There was just the one "Corpuscle Cup," a red ceramic thing that looked sort of like a big drop of blood, but I forget what it said on it. As you say, this saved having to buy multiple trophies / engravings.
07-15-2019 07:03 PM - edited 07-15-2019 07:06 PM
@6291mickey wrote:The lady said she bought it from a 90 year old woman. That's why she said early 1900's...
Well, really, the age of the person doesn't mean anything. I'm in my 70s and among my knick-knacks and what-nots are things that are hundreds of years old and things that are maybe a year old and things that are every age in between.
I'm not saying she's necessarily wrong about the age -- just that she can't know that by knowing the age of the last person who owned it.
07-15-2019 07:14 PM
Could Possessor have been the name of a horse? Just guessing.
07-15-2019 07:15 PM
@6291mickey wrote:She thought it was some kind of trophy for horse shoe throwing.
That's a good guess. But it could also be for axe-throwing, or for throwing steers in a rodeo, or...
You've given us a real puzzler!
07-15-2019 07:45 PM
@sierras1160 wrote:Could Possessor have been the name of a horse? Just guessing.
Possible. Best bucker in the rodeo.
Remember that old ditty? Ain't a horse that can't be rode; ain't a cowboy that can't be throwed.
07-15-2019 07:53 PM
Ohhh, that would hurt. Now that I think about it.