Polo Player ‘Riversdale Grenfell’ (1880-1914) by “Emu” (William Dyson 1880-1938)
$1,200
Print Sz: 13 1/2"H x 8 1/4"W
Frame Sz: 14 1/4"H x 9"W
"Riversdale Grenfell"(1880-1914)
by "Emu" (William Dyson 1880-1938)
Original Antique Chromolithograph
Published in "The World" by Gilbert Whitehead & Co.
London, Circa 1910
Measures:-
34 cm x 20.5 cm
A portrait of leading Edwardian polo player Riversdale Grenfell.
Riversdale Nonus Grenfell (often known as “Rivy”) was the youngest of the nine sons and six daughters of Pascoe Du Pré Grenfell (four of the boys were killed during World War I). He was the identical twin of Francis Octavius Grenfell. Both boys were educated at Eton College, leaving in 1899 to pursue their separate careers: Francis as a soldier, Rivy entering the banking profession. Both were accomplished polo players - Francis rated as an 8-goal player and Rivy, even better, with a 9-goal handicap.
Riversdale achieved particularly notable success on the polo field. He won the 1907 Hurlingham Champion Cup with his team the Freebooters, repeating the feat in 1909 with the Roehampton Club. In 1910, he was part of the Ranelagh team that won the U.S. Open Championship. His other victories included the Rugby Open Cup, the All Ireland Open Cup, the Patriotic Challenge, Roehampton’s Junior Championship, the Ranelagh Novices, the Public Schools Cup and the Roehampton Cup. He was also a member of the Polo Pony Society and, during a visit to India, won the Kadir Cup (the main pig-sticking competition) on his first attempt.
Alongside his banking career, Rivy served as a volunteer Lieutenant in the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars. At the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted and transferred to his brother’s regiment, the 9th (Queen’s Royal) Lancers. The twins were swiftly posted to France, landing on 21 August 1914. During the Battle of Audregnies on 24 August 1914, Francis displayed exceptional bravery and was severely wounded saving guns from being captured by the enemy during a retreat. For his gallantry he was awarded the first Victoria Cross of the war. While Francis convalesced, Rivy was killed in action on 14th September 1914 during the First Battle of the Aisne, having been in France for only 24 days. Having recovered from his injuries Francis returned to the front and was killed just eight months later at Hooge in Belgium on 24th May 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres.
The Grenfell twins’ short but remarkable lives were chronicled by their friend John Buchan in a biography which was published in 1920.
Bibliography:-
See entry in Horace A. Laffaye. "The Polo Encyclopedia" (2nd Edition), Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland & Co, 2015