Rare 1884 Rugby Cap Comes to Auction
Four days before the All Blacks meet the Wallabies at Eden Park, Webb's The Estate will offer an honours cap made for a member of New Zealand's first representative rugby team, which toured New South Wales unbeaten in 1884, eight years before a national union existed.
New Zealand's first representative rugby team toured New South Wales unbeaten in 1884, eight years before a national union was founded.
This honours cap, made in the 1920s for a member of that pioneering side, is offered in The Estate this October.
Lot 2. An Honours Cap Made for a Member of the 1884 New Zealand Rugby Team
EST. $4,000—$6,000
An 1884 New Zealand Representative Honours Cap (est. $7,000–$10,000) is offered in The Estate, Webb's fortnightly online auction, with bidding closing on Tuesday 6 October from 8pm.
The cap was made in the 1920s by Hornig's Ltd of Cuba Street, Wellington, for members of the 1884 team who had never received representative honours caps.
That privately organised team of 19 won all eight of its matches in New South Wales.
The auction closes ahead of the first Bledisloe Cup test of 2026, at Eden Park on Saturday 10 October.
In 1884, a team of 19 rugby players left New Zealand for Sydney. The New Zealand Rugby Football Union would not be founded for another eight years. The team came home unbeaten, and a cap made for one of its members is now offered in The Estate at Webb's.
The tour was a return invitation. A New South Wales side had visited New Zealand in 1882, and the Southern Rugby Union asked for a reciprocal visit. There was no national body to arrange it, so Dunedin businessman Samuel Sleigh and Christchurch barrister William Millton, himself a leading player, organised it themselves. The players came from the four provincial unions then in existence: Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago. Sleigh managed the side and Millton captained it. The team included Jack Taiaroa (Ngāi Tahu) and Joe Warbrick (Ngāti Rangitihi), who later captained the 1888–89 Native team.
The New Zealanders won all eight matches, scoring 167 points and conceding 17.
They did not play in black. The 1884 side wore dark blue jerseys with a gold fern leaf on the left breast. No complete jersey is known to survive. The black jersey with a silver fern, and a black cap with a silver monogram, were adopted by the new national union in 1893.
The 1884 side which toured New South Wales was New Zealand's first representative rugby team and was privately organised eight years before the national union was formed.
"Objects connected to the 1884 team are exceptionally scarce. This cap records the moment New Zealand rugby recognised the men who first wore its colours overseas, and it comes to auction in the week the All Blacks return to Eden Park. It is an exceptional piece of sporting history and one indelibly connected to New Zealand's sporting culture and international reputation."
— Leah Morris, Head of Decorative Arts, Webb's
The cap belongs to a later chapter. Players who represented New Zealand were traditionally awarded caps, but the men of 1884 had played before the union existed and had never received representative caps. In March 1926, the union's management committee learned that two members of the 1884 team living in Auckland had no representative caps. Its chairman, Stan Dean, called granting them "a very gracious act," and the committee resolved that every man who had represented the country should have one.
This cap was made by Hornig's Ltd, whose Cuba Street label remains inside. The firm's principal, W.F. (Bill) Hornig, was a central figure in Wellington rugby. He chaired the Wellington union, sat on the national union's management committee through the 1920s, and managed the 1928 All Blacks in South Africa. The result is an unusual object: a cap in the black and silver of a union the 1884 team predated, made decades later for men who had helped make it possible.
The player to whom it was issued is not known. The vendor found it in the wardrobe of their late father, who lived in Wellington.
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Sell With Us
Webb's Decorative Arts department welcomes enquiries about objects of historical, cultural or design significance, from sporting memorabilia and colonial silver to furniture and works on paper. Our specialists offer free, obligation-free valuations and can advise on the best route to market, whether that's a dedicated single-owner sale or inclusion in an upcoming Estate or Decorative Arts auction.
Browse Upcoming Auctions
The Estate runs fortnightly online, closing every second Tuesday from 8pm, and offers a changing selection of furniture, silver, ceramics, jewellery and collectables. Full catalogues, condition reports and bidding are available on webbs.co.nz, with registration required to bid.
About the Department
Webb's Decorative Arts team, led by Leah Morris, handles a broad range of material across the decorative and fine arts, with particular expertise in New Zealand colonial history, sporting heritage and design objects. The department regularly brings significant historical pieces to market, connecting them with collectors and institutions both in New Zealand and internationally.
Location—Estate Showroom
31d Normanby Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1023
Contact
Leah Morris
Head of Decorative Arts
[email protected]
+64 22 574 5699
Callum Johnstone
Specialist, The Estate
[email protected]
+64 22 097 7524