Skip to content

Historic gold trophy worth nearly £500k stolen from Glasgow museum

News imageGlasgow Life Gold trophy with dome lid and handles. A crest has badges on it Glasgow Life
The 18-karat gold trophy vanished last year

A historic Glasgow artifact worth nearly £500k was stolen from a city museum six months ago, police have revealed.

The force said the overnight theft of the Lipton Cup last October could not be announced at the time in case it risked the 18-carat gold trophy being destroyed.

However no arrests have been made since and police have notified Interpol of the theft.

The cup was presented to Glaswegian merchant Sir Thomas Lipton in New York in December 1930, following his fifth and final attempt to win the Americas' Cup - the premier international prize in yacht racing. It was gifted to the city of Glasgow two years later, after Lipton's death.

The theft occurred overnight between 22 and 23 October last year, and there were no signs of the building having been broken into.

The missing cup - valued at £490,000 - was only noticed following cleaning on the morning of 23 October.

News imageGetty Images A large museum building, by the riverside. Most of the building's wall is glass, with a jagged concrete pattern at the topGetty Images
The Lipton Cup was stolen from the Riverside Museum last October

Jane Rowlands, the head of museums and collections at Glasgow Life, said the theft was disgraceful.

She added: "This is not only a loss for the museum, but a theft from the people of Glasgow, whose shared heritage our collections represent.

"Since October, we have been supporting Police Scotland in their investigation to recover the item and have taken steps to review security measures across our museums.

"We have also added it to the Art Loss Register – the world's largest private database of stolen art – which will flag it to auction houses worldwide in an effort to prevent any attempted sale.

"Our priority is to see this treasured object safely returned to the people of Glasgow and we would encourage anyone who may have information about the cup's whereabouts to tell the police."

News imageGetty Images An old black and white photograph, showing Thomas Lipton - a man in a suit, with bow tie and with a bushy moustache, sitting at a deskGetty Images
Sir Thomas Lipton was presented with the cup in 1930

The cup is described as highly distinctive, with two handles and a detachable domed lid, set atop a square silver plinth base.

It features a representation of the Americas' Cup on an enamel shield depicting the American flag in red, white and blue.

Lipton founded the Lipton's Tea brand, and died aged 83 in 1931.

Det Sgt Bob Carrigan said: "Extensive inquiries remain ongoing and have included CCTV review and conventional inquiry, including within the art world.

"The cup has been circulated as a stolen artefact via Interpol and other industry stolen property registers.

"This trophy is of significant historic value and belongs to the people of Glasgow. I am now appealing to the public for their help as part of our investigation to find and return the item to the museum."

He added that anyone with any information, no matter how small, should contact the force.