VINTAGE GOLDEN LION OF THE CITY OF VENICE ORNAMENT. 

Venice, circa 1992. We believe this fantastic Golden Lion, was dedicated by the city of Venice to the crew members of the Il Moro di Venezia returning from the America's Cup. On the front of the base the inscription 'Il Sindaco di Venezia'.  

The lion 3.1 x 4.3 x 2.2 in.

The Golden Lion has wonderful detail to the design, there are a couple of marks on the base to the rear, (see image 3), this doesn't however detract from the overall beauty of the piece.

Additional Infomation.
Il Moro di Venezia V (ITA–25), was selected on 24 January 1992 to compete in the Louis V  Cup. In the race to the finals, Il Moro di Venezia V won 21 of 30 races, but came into the finals second behind NZL–20. 

After five races, Il Moro di Venezia V was down by 4 to 1 (though the last win by New Zealand was protested and annulled, making it 3 to 1.) But Il Moro di Venezia V came back with four straight wins to take the Louis V  Cup and the right to challenge Bill Koch of Americaі for the 1992 America's Cup. 

In May 1992, she lost the best of seven series against Americaі, USA–23, 1 to 4,[1] though the margins were very close, ranging from 3 seconds to one minute, 58 seconds. In 1997 she was bought by AmericaOne to be used as a trial boat. In 2001 she was bought by the OneWorld. 

Finally, she was acquired by Bill Koch who completely restored her. She raced once more against USA–23 in the America's Cup Jubilee Regatta at Cowes, U.K.[9] In 2005 she joined USA–23 for the final time, on display in front of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts