Objects
Punch Bowl
Alcohol
Consumption
Gifting
[Taken from catalogue entry]
A large, Bristol delft blue and white punch bowl.
Interior with inscription reading ‘The Gift of Benjamin/ Richards to Thomas/ Gwynn Esqr. 1729’. Exterior with two bands of formal flower-sprays in shaped panels reserved on blue grounds.
Ceramic punch bowls were made in Europe from the 1680s, smaller ones generally for individual use, while larger ones might be made for public houses or communal drinking. Punch had come to Europe in the seventeenth century via the East India trade. It originally contained arrack, a rum-like spirit from Goa and Jakarta, mixed with lemon juice, water, sugar and spices, byt the 18th century there were many different recipes.
Surviving punch-bowls, such as this one, often bore commemorative inscriptions or designs, and were perhaps intended as decorative presentation pieces rather than for actual use.
Production
Dates of Production: exact 1729
Bristol, England
Consumer
Benjamin Richards
male
Gifter
Materials
Earthenware
Earthenware- white
Museological Details
D.O.C/5
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