ST. LOUIS WORLD'S FAIR / EXPOSITION PRESENTATION STERLING SILVER LOVING CUP, baluster-form well with three applied scrolled handles, raised on a round foot with knopped stem, sides with three different engravings comprising two architectural vignettes including one exterior view of the Model Rural School House at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair / Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and the third engraving of a list of names consisting of George V. Buchanan, M.M. Brashear, Catherine Cranmer, Emma Serl, Cora Mae Hansel, and Lucy J. Hinkston. Base impressed with maker's mark above "STERLING / 2216". Total weight: 13.620 ozt. Woodside Sterling Co., New York City, NY. Circa 1904. 7 7/8" HOA, 5 1/8" D rim.
Catalogue Note: According to The Missouri Yearbook of Agriculture 1905 Annual Report on p. 235, the Model Rural School House was an exhibit for the Missouri Educational Department during the St. Louis World's Fair, built in a grove near the Art Building. It contained up-to-date amenities including toilet rooms, water system, ventilation, and furnace heating, constructed to cost slightly more than the ordinary rural school house at that time. The superintendent of the Department of Education, Professor George Victor Buchanan of Sedalia, MO, supervised the organization, installation, and care of this exhibit. On p. 58, The Missouri Historical Review, Vol. 19, 1925, reports that "Miss [Catherine] Cranmer, who had formerly been a rural school teacher, in Cooper County had charge of the Model Rural School at the World's Fair at St. Louis."
Most or all the other names on this cup are teachers, educators, and authors. M.M. Brashear is likely Dr. Minnie Montgomery Brashear, who penned numerous articles about writing in Missouri and Twainiana, publishing Mark Twain, Son of Missouri in 1934. Emma Serl was a well-known author of children's and language lesson books as well as a teacher for thirty years in Missouri. Cora Mae Hansel is listed on the 1900 U.S. Census for Joplin City, MO with the occupation as a "School Teacher". Lastly, Lucy J. Hinkston has yet to be identified.

Property of a Virginia gentleman.

Very good overall condition with minor wear, minor to moderate surface scratches, a few nicks, and a few scattered denting including a moderate dent to the side of one handle.