Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Lot 12
A London delftware fuddling cup, circa 1630-50
1 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£2,200 - £2,800
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Jim Peake
Head of Department
Fergus Gambon
Director
A London delftware fuddling cup, circa 1630-50
Formed as three conjoined vessels with globular bodies and neat spreading feet, linked by twisted handles, painted in blue with stylised plants, 8.2cm high, 12.5cm wide
Footnotes
Provenance
With Jonathan Horne
Literature
White, Mary, Drinking at the Whites' House, Vol.2, 2021, p.86, fig.a
Fragments of glazed fuddling cups have been found at Southwark and biscuit examples have been excavated at Rotherhithe. Some are formed of four vessels or like the present lot consist of three. See Michael Archer, Delftware, 1997, p.256 for two fuddling cups of similar form to the present lot.
The exact way in which these cups were used is not entirely clear but it seems likely that they were intended to 'fuddle' or inebriate the drinker, as different alcoholic beverages are mixed inside the conjoined chambers and confusion ensues. In ceramics the concept goes back to early medieval times, with the distinctive shape of 17th century London fuddling cups probably derived from German stoneware.
There is a pleasing decorative parallel in the almost anthropomorphic pot-bellied cups, joined by their arms and the convivial nature of its use.