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caudle cup
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Silver-gilt caudle cup, English, 1660; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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Silver-gilt caudle cup, English, 1660; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Silver-gilt caudle cup, English, 1660; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

caudle cup

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History

caudle cup, small, two-handled silver cup, usually with a cover, originally made in England during the second half of the 17th century and possibly used for caudle—warm ale or wine mixed with bread or gruel, eggs, sugar, and spices—which was administered to women after childbirth and to convalescents.

The cup is gourd shaped, without a foot, and of thinnish metal usually embossed (ornamented with relief work) with floral motifs. Caudle cup handles, which flare out on either side, are cast in various grotesque shapes. Sometimes the domed cover has a flat, spool-shaped finial that enables it to be reversed and used as a stand.