Winners take a tumble at Chester Racecourse
Records dating back to 1791 show that tumbler cups made by one of the UK’s oldest jewellers, Lowe & Sons were presented by the Earl of Grosvenor at Chester Races before trophies became fashionable. Tumblers will once again be provided for winning owners at Chester Racecourse at its new Midsummer evening fixture (FRIDAY JUNE 27).
The oldest racecourse in the UK is working with Lowe & Sons once again, supplying tumblers to winners based on the designs from hundreds of years ago.
The race title and date will be engraved by Lowe & Sons on the tumblers and this revived custom will continue for all Chester Racecourse meetings in the future. Lowe & Sons continues to provide services for the Chester Cup at the racecourse, which itself dates back to 1539.
Kevin Parry, General Manager of Lowe & Sons, added: “Lowe and Sons is delighted to have forged this strong relationship with Chester Racecourse, which has been established for more than 200 years. We are proud of this strong link and pleased that once again, tumblers are being engraved with the race title and date. It is interesting how the presentation of tumblers has gone full circle, from its origins in 1791. With the Racecourse recently having opened its 1539 restaurant it seems we are both referring back to what has gone before.”
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Tumblers vary is size but when tipped to one side they must ‘tumble’ back into an upright position. The earliest record of a tumbler cup comes from Pepys from October 20, 1664: “Thence home by way of taking two silver tumblers home which I have bought.” The earliest tumblers still in existence date from 1671 and are at All Souls College, Oxford.
Records still kept in the Bridge Street Row based shop also show that the original founder of Lowe & Sons, George Lowe, obtained a gold tumbler cup from famous silver family the Batemans for the Earl Grosvenor in 1796. Original invoices show that George Lowe I acted as an agent for the Batemans in Chester and that Lowe’s sold the first tumbler to the Racecourse.
Lowe & Sons was established by George Lowe in 1770 and has been at Bridge Street Row since 1804. Lowe’s has close links with Royalty, the Grosvenors, Chester City Council, local businesses and Chester Race Company. It was recently featured on BBC1’s Antiques Roadshow.
The Victorian shop interior has remained the same since 1890. Lowe’s have been supplying the Chester Cup to Chester Racecourse since 1804, more than 200 years ago.
The Lowe family dominated the story of Chester silver throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. A large collection of Lowe’s silver is on display at the Ridgway Silver Gallery at The Grosvenor Museum, Grosvenor Street, Chester. Also on display is the last piece of silver hallmarked at the Chester Assay Office before its closure in 1962 and a new bowl, commissioned by the previous owners of Lowe & Sons, to celebrate the opening of the gallery in 1992.
Press Contact: Jane Harrad-Roberts Marketing Projects PR Mobile: 07785 395705 Email: jane@marketingprojects.co.uk Tel: 01244 330000
Company Contact: Richard Hogben General Manager of Waltons of Chester 45, Eastgate Street, Chester CH1 1LR Tel: 01244 325972 Website: www.waltonsofchester.co.uk
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