1964 Caddo QHBA Trophy

1964 CADDO COUNTY QUARTER HORSE BREEDERS ASSOCIATION FIRST PLACE GELDING TROPHY - GOLD-TONE STANDING QUARTER HORSE ON A WALNUT BASE, SPONSORED BY DE VAUGHAN DRUG OF ANADARKO, OKLAHOMA A genuine piece of Caddo County, Oklahoma horse-show history: a 1964 first-place gelding trophy from the Caddo County Quarter Horse Breeders Association, sponsored by De Vaughan Drug. The trophy is a cast gold-tone metal standing Quarter Horse - head lowered, hindquarters heavy, in the stocky halter-horse conformation that was the ideal of the period - mounted on a rectangular gold plinth over a fluted column foot, all set on a beveled solid walnut base. The engraved brass plate on the front of the base reads "19" and "64" flanking three engraved lines: "1ST PLACE GELDING / CADDO CO. Q H B A / SPON. - DE VAUGHAN DRUG." For a local-history collector, a western or equestrian decorator, a Caddo County or Anadarko area buyer, or anyone who shows Quarter Horses, this is exactly the kind of small, specific, dated award that is hard to replace once it leaves the county. It displays well on a desk, a bookshelf, a mantel, or a tack-room shelf, and it pairs naturally with western and equestrian lots elsewhere in this sale. Note the gold finish shows scattered wear and dark spotting, and the walnut base shows a light finish blemish near the plate as detailed below. Sold as one trophy. Description Figure: cast metal standing Quarter Horse in a bright gold-tone plated or gilt finish, standing squarely on all four feet with head lowered and turned slightly, full tail and cropped-looking mane, modeled in the heavy-muscled halter conformation of 1960s Quarter Horse trophy figures. Plinth and column: the horse stands on a rectangular gold-tone platform with shaped scalloped corners, which sits on a short fluted and leaf-cast gold-tone column foot, screwed down through the wood base. Base: solid walnut or walnut-stained hardwood, rectangular with beveled edges on the top and around all four sides, in a warm medium brown with visible straight grain and an original satin finish. Engraved plate: a brass or gold-tone engraved plate mounted on the front bevel of the base, reading, exactly as engraved: "19" at left, "64" at right, and centered on three lines "1ST PLACE GELDING", "CADDO CO. Q H B A", and "SPON. - DE VAUGHAN DRUG." Underside: the bottom of the base is bare unfinished wood with a recessed bored hole holding the mounting bolt head and one additional small screw. No felt or pad is present. No maker's stamp, trophy-shop label, or foundry mark is visible on the base or the figure, so no maker is claimed. Assembly note: the photographs show the figure and plinth lifted clear of the base with the threaded mounting stud standing exposed in the wood and the finish lightly clouded in a ring where the column foot sat, so the trophy comes apart at the column and screws back together; buyers should expect to reseat it and snug the bolt. Dimensions, per the Milwaukee tape-measure photographs: the walnut base measures approximately 6 inches wide and approximately 3 inches front to back, and the assembled trophy stands approximately 7 inches tall overall to the top of the horse's ears. In every tape photograph the hook end of the tape rests flat on the carpet beside the trophy rather than hooked over an edge of the piece, so all three figures are close estimates rather than exact measurements. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Attribution note Caddo County, Oklahoma, with Anadarko as its county seat, sits in the heart of Oklahoma Quarter Horse country, and county-level Quarter Horse breeders associations ran their own halter and performance shows through the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with classes divided by sex and age and trophies underwritten by local businesses. The engraving "CADDO CO. Q H B A" reads as Caddo County Quarter Horse Breeders Association, and the gelding class was a halter class judged on conformation. The sponsor, De Vaughan Drug, was and remains a longtime Anadarko pharmacy; current business listings still show De Vaughan Drug at 103 W. Broadway St., Anadarko, OK 73005, per Yellow Pages, and vintage local advertising for De Vaughan, 103 W. Bdwy., Anadarko, Ph. 247-3551 appears in period Oklahoma community publications, which fits a 1964 trophy sponsorship exactly. Trophies of this construction - a plated cast zinc or spelter figure on a fluted column and a beveled walnut base with an engraved plate - were the standard product of regional trophy shops in that era. The reading of the association initials, the identification of the class, and any statement about the trophy's scarcity or local significance are offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion and are not guaranteed. Bid on the item as pictured. Condition Used vintage 1964 trophy sold in as-is condition, described only from the photographs supplied. Structurally the piece is sound, with the figure, plinth, column, base, and engraved plat