Rare and early trophy for wheelchair tennis circa 1980s and inscribed Calais, in the form of a pottery water jug, hand painted with a wheelchair tenni

Rare and early trophy for wheelchair tennis circa 1980s and inscribed Calais, in the form of a pottery water jug, hand painted with a wheelchair tennis match within the head of a racquet with strings incised into the body, the tapered jug with loop handle, height 24cm. Wheelchair tennis is played at Grand Slams and is one of the sports contested at the Summer Paralympics, with three categories Men, Women and Quads, each category has singles and doubles tournaments. Wheelchair tennis increased in popularity in 1976 due to the efforts of Brad Parks (American, b.1957), who is seen as the creator of competitive wheelchair tennis. With France becoming the first country in Europe putting a programme in place in 1982 and the sport acquired the status of fully fledged competition in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Paralympics.