Race cup
William Burwash and Richard Sibley
Category
Silver
Date
1807 - 1808
Materials
Silver-gilt, sterling
Measurements
46.4 x 38.0 x 23.2 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 516453
Summary
A two-handled cup and cover, silver-gilt (sterling), mark of William Burwash & Richard Sibley I, London 1807/8 The urn-shaped cup, its foot and domed cover are raised, with cast borders, handles and finial. The cup sits on an octagonal foot with shallow foot ring. The rim is embossed and chased with a border of acanthus leaves. The spreading stem has a narrow floral border at its waist. Above a wide border of everted gadroons support the body of the cup, which is embossed with a deep calyx of alternating lanceolate leaves and flowers. Each side is applied with a laurel wreath cartouche; one containing a cast and chased vignette of two horses racing to a finishing post; the other inscribed: ‘Won at Beverley 1807/ by/ Mrs F Watt’s Integrity/ beating/ Lord C Somerset's White Rose/ and two others’. The top of the body is applied with a deep band of cast and finely chased vines, leaves and grapes on a matted ground. The two lyre-shaped handles are square in cross-section, and decorated with a band of laurel leaves and berries between two guilloche borders. The cover has a wide border of embossed gadrooning round the rim. The central dome is embossed and chased with lanceolate leaves and flowers, echoing the calyx. The cast finial, in the form of a of a rearing horse, stands on a flat circular disk which screws to the cover.Heraldry: None Hallmarks: Fully marked on the foot ring: lion passant (sterling), leopard’s head (London), ‘M’, (1807/8), monarch’s head (duty mark) and maker’s mark ‘WB’ over ‘RS’ (William Burwash & Richard Sibley*); part marked on the flange of the cover: lion passant, ‘M’, and ‘WB’ over ‘RS’; and marked on the upper side of the finial’s disk: monarch’s head and lion passant. (The screw is unmarked.)*Arthur Grimwade: London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, 1990, p 217, no 3050Scratch weight: None
Full description
NOTE ON BEVERLY RACECOURSE Beverley is one of England’s oldest racecourses. Chester Racecourse boasts the oldest traceable history; dating back to 1539 when the first recorded race took place. It was sanctioned by the mayor, Henry Gee, whose name was adopted for the nickname for a horse: ‘a gee-gee’; or the request to speed up: ‘gee-up’. Newmarket – known as the home of horseracing – established its racecourse in 1636. The Jockey Club records Epsom Down’s first race taking place in 1661, in the presence of Charles II. It proved to be a popular course, being just seventeen miles from London. Daniel Defoe, writing of his visit in 1720s states: ‘on publick race days they are cover’d with coaches and ladies, and an innumerable company of horsemen, as well gentlemen as citizens, attending the sport; and then adding to the beauty of the sight, the racers flying over the course, as if they either touch’d not or felt not the ground they run upon.’ [1] It is said that Beverley Racecourse ‘first opened its doors to the public in 1690’, which would put it in fourth position, however, there is as much jostling between racecourses for the distinction of claiming to be one of the oldest courses, as there is for pole position amongst the racing horses. Whatever its ranking, Beverley is an old and distinguished course. The York Herald recorded the winners of the June meeting at Beverley in 1807. The sweepstake of 20 guineas each, for all ages, held on Thursday 11 June, was won by ‘Mr F Watt’s b.c. Integrity, brother to Truth, by Totteridge, 4 years old, 7st. 12lb.’ [3] This must be the same horse as is listed on the cup; although not the same race, as on this occasion he beat three other unnamed horses, another of which was also owned by a Mr Watt. The Watts family and their horses appear regularly in Yorkshire racing history. Squire Richard Watt, of Bishop Burton, near Beverley, raised four St Leger winners between 1813 and 1833. On the death of his son, William, he established the Watt Memorial Stakes. First run in 1874, the race is still run at Beverley today. [1] Vanessa Brett: Knick-knackery: The Deards family & their luxury shops, 1685-1785, London 2023, pp 171-178 [2] History of Beverley Racecourse: https://beverley-racecourse.co.uk/about-us/ [3] York Herald, Saturday 13 June 1807, p 3, Beverley Meeting NOTE ON BURWASH & SIBLEY William Burwash and Richard Sibley’s partnership lasted less than seven years, but it was productive. They produced a wide range of domestic wares from meat platters to soup tureens and coffee biggins. Their work is not flamboyant, but is well designed, often incorporating fluted sides and gadroon borders. The silver produced by Burwash after the dissolution of the partnership is more refined, particularly the objects he supplied to William Beckford. Jane Singleton, 2025
Provenance
Mrs F Watts David Black of 1 Burlington Gardens, London W1, sold the cup to Lord Fairhaven on 23 December 1943, for £130, Invoice 1650 (Urban) Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Baron Fairhaven (1896-1966) bequeathed by Lord Fairhaven to the National Trust along with the house and the rest of the contents. National Trust
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, the Fairhaven Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
William Burwash and Richard Sibley , goldsmith