Homecoming for a julep cup

More than 160 years after the city of Richmond, Virginia gave an inscribed silver cup to its best-known bartender, the trophy is back in town.

Neval Featherstone, related by marriage to nineteenth-century mint julep maestro John Dabney, last fall gifted the cup to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, saying he hoped it would shore up Dabney’s legacy. While museum officials have indicated they plan to keep the cup on permanent display, it’s now being featured in a temporary exhibit celebrating beer, wine, and spirits in the state.