A rare gold-plated medal presented to Alfred Lyttelton for his victory in the M.C.C. 'Gold Racquet' amateur real tennis competition in 1890, a title w

A rare gold-plated medal presented to Alfred Lyttelton for his victory in the M.C.C. 'Gold Racquet' amateur real tennis competition in 1890, a title which he was able to secure on twelve separate occasions, the obverse of the medal shows the MCC logo along with the words ''Challenge Tennis Prize''. The reverse is engraved, WON BY A. LYTTELTON 1890, diameter 5cm. E.B. Noel and J.O.M. Clark (A History of Tennis, 1924) said of the annual competition, ''The prizes often retain the name of the 'Gold and Silver Racquet', but in reality they are both cups, to be held for the year and never won outright, while the winners also receive a medal. Alfred Lyttelton QC (7th. February 1857 - 5th. July 1913) was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at tennis, football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports: real tennis (1877-79), cricket (1876-79), football (1876-78), athletics (1876) and rackets (1877-79). Arguably he was the pre-eminent sportsman of his generation. He was, among numerous other achievements, the first man to represent England at both football and cricket. Lyttelton was also a successful politician. This lot includes an engraving of an engraving showing Lytttelton and Saunders on the court at Princes Club in 1889 0and eight other tennis related prints and booklets.