These mugs are manufactured specially for the Museum by Chown China. The Balmoral mugs are bone china. The decoration is fired at above 800°C for everlasting permanence and outstanding dish-washer resistance.

Please DO NOT put boiling water into the porcelain mugs as they are liable to crack. We advise that you place a spoon into the mug when pouring in water that has just finished boiling and this will prevent damage. They are the equivalent of the porcelain tea cup.

The mug has information printed on the reverse side and details some of the history of the High Tandem Gig.

“The High Tandem Gig was a derivative of the sportsman’s ‘Cocking Cart’ which dated back to the 1800s.

Its precarious height created an impressive turn-out, but also made it notoriously unsafe.

It was fashionably driven with two horses in tandem but occasionally by one horse; no easy task for the novice!

This was a vehicle for the elite society, the ‘sports car’ of its time. It was still in use at the end of the 20th century.”