Jean-Bernard Decomps (French, 1872-1948), 'Portrait of Victor Etienne Demogeot', ((Qty))

Jean-Bernard Decomps (French, 1872-1948), 'Portrait of Victor Etienne Demogeot', signed and dated 1916, oil on wooden panel, 41 x 32.5cm, unframed; together with framed display of 3 photos depicting the Demogeot driving or with racing cars, common mounted, framed, 29 x 60cm, overall (frame lost decorative gilt edging); another photograph depicting Demogeot in a car parked next to a huge bell, 45 x 35cm, framed; a 1907 Targa Florio booklet; a 1906 Blackpool Automobile Races programme, assorted period magazines and postcards, and some related photocopies. and file of magazines, postcards, and ephemera. (Qty) Footnotes: Victor Etienne Demogeot (1881-1970); His father was a manager in a foundry, so he learned mechanics during his adolescence in the machine shop. At the age of 18, he became regional cycling champion, and on his return from his military service, he joined De Dietrich in Lunéville as an industrial designer. In 1903, he obtained a Parisian position with Darracq, where he met Victor Hémery with whom he competed in the French qualifiers for the Gordon Bennett Cup (crew not selected, their vehicle having caught fire) and then his first real races in 1905, immediately enjoying renowned successes on 80HP 10-litre engines, most often less powerful than their direct rivals. He left Darracq at the end of the 1908 season for a brief interlude in 1910 with the aeronautical engineer Le Roux, before continuing his professional activity in car mechanics until 1914, then branching off to open his own accounting book factory, eventually retiring from that business in 1932 to run the family farm at Bainville. The 120 horsepower Darracq V8 engine of his Gold Speed Crown in 1906 broke a final record on 26 June 1909, the British record for the mile with Sir Algernon Lee Guinness (future director of the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq group) at 193.4 km/h, whose younger brother was none other than Kenelm Lee Guinness, holder of the land speed record from 1922 to 1924. Mechanic Superimposed on that of Victor Hémery during the Darracq period from 1905 to 1906, before the latter joined Benz in 1907: Circuit des Ardennes and Vanderbilt Cup in 1905 (Hémery was then retroactively winner of the U.S. National Driving Championship car racing). Pilot Gold Crown for speed in the queen race-Two-Mile-A-Minute, at the weekend of the Florida Speed Carnival: victory on January 29, 1906 in a Darracq 120HP V8 12.7 liter1 against Fred Marriott's steam-powered Rocket Red Steamer Stanley, then world land speed record holder for barely three days on site, in Daytona Beach (Ormond Beach, Fl), managing a time of 58.8 seconds at 196.9 km/h in one of its two attempts; The Cuban Race in Havana, a Grand Prix at the beginning of February 1906 on the Darracq 80HP of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup (organized by Morgan, the same of the Florida Speed Carnival, the second in the race being also a Frenchman, Maurice Bernin) ; Class winner at the Gaillon Hill Climb in 1906, on a Darracq 40HP; 2nd in the first Coppa Florio Velocita di Brescia, in 1907 on Darracq, with the young Jean Chassagne as mechanic; 2nd in the St. Petersburg-Moscow Championship, in 1908 on Darracq (behind his former team-mate Victor Hémery, then on Benz; 777.5 km race); 3rd in the first Coupe de la Commission Sportive, in 1907 on Darracq; 4th in the Coppa Florio, in 1908 on Mors (7th in 1907). Lot to be sold without reserve. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: † † VAT at the prevailing rate on Hammer Price and Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing