Cup

For other uses, see Cup (disambiguation).

Rococo cup with saucer, circa 1753, soft-paste porcelain with glaze and enamel, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

A cup is an open-top container used to hold liquids for pouring or drinking typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about 100–250 millilitres (3–8 US fl oz). Although mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, pottery, wood, stone, bone, polystyrene, plastic, aluminum, or other materials. They also most typically have handles, though a beaker has no handle or stem. Cups are used across a wide range of cultures and social classes.

Cups of different styles may be used for different types of liquids or other foodstuffs (e.g. teacups and measuring cups), in different situations (e.g. at water stations or in ceremonies and rituals), or for decoration. The word "cup" is also used as a unit of capacity: the capacity of a "typical" cup, varying slightly from place to place.

Minoan pottery cups 1800-1700 BC, Kamares ware

The history of cups goes back well into prehistory, initially mostly as handle-less beakers or bowls, and they have been found in most cultures across the world.

Modern household shapes of cup generally lack a stem, but this was not always the case. The large metal standing cup or covered cup with a base and stem, and usually a cover, was an important prestige piece in medieval houses that could afford them, and often used as a "welcome cup", or for toasts. The form survives in modern sporting trophies, and in the chalices of church liturgy. The 15th-century silver Lacock Cup is a rare English secular survival. These were the sort of cup offered by cup-bearers, historically often an important office in courts.

Definitions

The definition of a cup is fluid, and is likely to be wider in specialist areas such archaeology than in modern common speech. As an example, Anna Wierzbicka (1984) notes that in the 1970s the "older generation" expected a cup to be made of porcelain and have both a handle and a saucer, so that the plastic cup with neither a handle, nor a saucer, was not a "real cup", while the "younger generation" made no such distinction, and used "coffee cup" or "teacup" to indicate the traditional cups. Twelve-year-olds had two different shapes of a cup in mind, one for hot liquids, one for juices.

Names for different types of cups vary regionally and may overlap (in American English "cups" include "mugs"). Any transparent cup, regardless of actual composition, is more likely to be called a "glass"; therefore, while a flat-bottomed cup made of paper is a "paper cup", a transparent one for drinking shots, of very similar shape, is called a "shot glass", instead. Penelope Stock, a lexicographer, stated that cups, mugs and glasses are "near-synonyms", although "sufficient differences" can be found that divide them into different groups.

Wierzbicka and Keith Allan (in his work "On Cup", 2020) compare definitions of the cup:

Cup definitions

Trait	William Labov	Jerrold J. Katz	OED	Cliff Goddard	Webster's 2nd ed.
Shape	Tapering, circular	Vertically oriented, "upwardly concave"	Hemispherical	Thin round sides, smooth top edge, flat bottom	Open, bowl-shaped
Proportions	Similar width and depth	Height close to the top diameter that is greater than the bottom one	Small	Not big, bottom narrower than top	Small
Function	Drinking hot liquids	Drinking	Drinking	Drinking hot liquids with one hand	"Chiefly" drinking, commonly used for hot liquids
Material	Opaque "vitreous"			Hard and smooth
Handle	One		Optional	One, in "many things"	Optional, one or more
Saucer	Present			Present	Common
Stem			Uncommon (usually found in the chalice)		Optional
Lid			Uncommon, not part of the "cup" itself		Optional

A mug and a cup side-by-side

Many languages − including French, Italian, Polish, Russian, German − use two separate words for mugs and cups. Wierzbicka suggests that this situation is due to a slightly different functionality: the traditional cups are designed for drinking while sitting down at the table, while the mug is supposed to be used anywhere. This, in her opinion, explains all the specific features:

• the saucer of the cup helps to protect the table surface, but is an inconvenience away from the table;
• the tapered shape of the cup accommodates the saucer, the cylindrical design of the mug is due to the absence of the saucer;
• larger handle of a mug allows carrying the mug around when putting it down is not an option;
• thicker walls of a mug allow cupping it with a second hand for convenience and reduce the chance of the mug being broken during long periods of handling;
• sitting at the table implies a more formal occasion, so cups are made to be more elegant, and sold in sets (like a tea set or a coffee service). Mugs are informal and usually sold individually;
• mug holds more liquid than the cup, as the latter is used in a close proximity of a teapot anyhow. Since limiting the area of the exposed surface of the liquid helps keeping the temperature, this increase in volume is achieved through mug being taller, while tapered cups are lower for stability.

History

Imperial "Chicken Cup", used by the Chenghua Emperor (d. 1487) and his consort for both tea and wine; some 3 inches across, these are now the most expensive cups in the world.

Cups have been used since prehistory and have been found at archeological sites throughout the world. Prehistoric cups were sometimes fashioned from shells and hollowed out stones, The English word "cup" has meant a drinking vessel since at least 1000 AD.

In ancient Mesopotamia, cups were made for a variety of purposes, possibly including the transportation and drinking of alcoholic beverages.

The Bell Beaker culture, is an important archaeological culture named after the distinctive inverted-bell pottery beaker cups it used, marking the beginning of the European Bronze Age from around 2800 BC. The Ringlemere Cup is a solid gold cup, with handle, from around 1600 BC, with the Rillaton Gold Cup one of two such cups known from England, with a handful of other locations and materials (such as the Hove amber cup) making up the "unstable" (round-bottomed) cups in precious materials from the Bronze Age.

Achaemenid Persian Lion Rhyton in gold, c. 500 BC

Animal horns must often have been used as cups from very early on, and the rhyton is a cup that imitates their shape, to a greater or lesser degree, in metal or pottery. It was the general elite type of cup throughout the Mediterranean in the Iron Age, from Greece to Ancient Persia and beyond. Only some had feet or bases that allowed them to be rested on a flat surface. Large numbers were decorated with or as animal heads, or terminated in the figure of an animal.

Other than the rhyton, ancient Greek drinking cup shapes were mostly very wide and shallow bowls, usually on short stems and with two handles, generally oriented along the same plane as the mouth of the cup, rather than at 90 degrees to it, as in modern teacups. Survivals in ancient Greek pottery are numerous, and often brilliantly painted, but all probably were made also in silver, where survivals are extremely rare, as grave robbers did not bother with pottery. The most important shapes are the kylix, kantharos, skyphos, lip cup, and the breast-shaped mastos with no base.

The Roman Empire used cups throughout Europe, with "goblet"-type shapes with shortish stems preferred for luxury examples in silver, like the Warren Cup, or Roman glass, such as the Lycurgus Cup in color-changing glass, or the spectacular carved-glass cage cups.

Box with set of six flanged cups in lacquer, Western Han

An ancient shape of cup in various parts of Eurasia was the "flanged cup" with either one or two flat horizontal strips attached to part of the top of the cup, acting as handles. These are found as grave goods in elite burials from around the Warring States Period (c. 475 to 221 BC), in Chinese lacquerware with two flanges at the sides of an ovoid cup. These are also called "eared cups" (耳杯) and "winged goblets". A form with a flange on only one side appears in ancient Persian silver, and then later in Chinese porcelain, apparently gradually developing into a shape for brush-washers on the calligrapher's desk.

Cups were used in the Americas several centuries prior to the European arrivals; most were pottery, but around the Gulf of Mexico, Native American societies used the shells of the Horse conch for drinking cups, among other purposes. In what is now the south-eastern US, traces of Yaupon tea containing caffeine have been found in pottery cups of an unusual shape: straight-sided, with a single thick spike as a handle near the top, opposite a slight pouring lip. Maya elites drank from elaborately painted pottery beakers such as the Fenton Vase and Princeton Maya Vase with God L.

In the Middle Ages the shapes of most ordinary cups were closer to mugs, tankards, and goblets rather than modern cups, in wood, pottery, or sometimes boiled leather. But the elite preferred cups with stems, and often covers, in metal, with glass a less common alternative. Large "ceremonial" or feasting cups, sometimes called grace cups or "welcome cups", and drinking horns, including ivory, with metal mounts, were important prestige pieces, typically too large to drink from all evening, so passed around or drunk from once. The name for the very wide ancient Greek wine-cup kylix ended up via Latin as chalice, typically a handle-less goblet in metal, used in the Catholic mass, but also a secular shape. Many individual examples have served both secular and liturgical uses over their history.

Chinese export porcelain tea cup and saucer in the Western style with handle; 1745; diameter: 10.2 cm. The deep saucer is typical of the period

Chinese and Japanese cups have been shaped as small, rather wide, bowls for some 2,000 years, smaller versions of the shape used for eating and serving food. As well as the Chinese porcelain that very gradually overtook it, lacquer is a prestige material. The same shapes are typically used in East Asia for both tea and wine or sake, and when they appeared in Europe in the 16th century, this shape was initially used for locally-made cups for the new drinks of tea and coffee.

By the early 18th century, the European taste for handles on cups, strongly evident from antiquity, reasserted itself and a single vertical handle was added to a slightly more vertical Chinese-style bowl to create both the very similar forms of the Western teacup and coffee cup, as well as a saucer, initially rather deeper than modern ones, as it was considered usual to pour the hot liquid into the saucer to cool it slightly before drinking. Apart from a more shallow saucer the essentials of these two forms have changed little since the mid-18th century in many contemporary examples.

• 
  Ancient Egyptian lotiform cup; 1295-1185 BC; faience; height: 15 cm, diameter: 9.1 cm
• 
  Silver beaker, possibly Norwegian, second half of the 17th century, silver, overall: 9.2 × 8.3 cm
• 
  Ancient Greek kylix; 575-550 BC; black-figure terracotta; diameter: 26.8 cm, overall: 14.1 cm
• 
  The Maya Fenton Vase, 600-800 AD
• 
  "Falcon warrior" shell cup, from the Spiro Mounds, eastern Oklahoma, 1200-1500
• 
  Sèvres cabinet cup and saucer, decorated with Gothic Revival ornament; 1827; porcelain; overall: 8.2 x 10 cm
• 
  Typical modern-day, disposable paper cup

Cultural significance and use

The Royal Gold Cup, before 1391, 23.6 cm high, 17.8 cm across at its widest point; weight 1.935 kg, British Museum. Saint Agnes appears to her friends in a vision.

Since cups have been an integral part of dining since time immemorial, they have become a valued part of human culture.

Monarchy

Historically, monarchs have been concerned about assassination via poisoning. To avoid this fate, they often used dedicated cups, with cup-bearers to guard them. A "divining cup" was supposed to be able to detect poison. In the Bible, Joseph interpreted a dream for Pharaoh's cup-bearer, and a silver divining cup played a key role in his reconciliation with his brothers.

The Royal Gold Cup is an exceptionally rare survival, made before 1391 for John, Duke of Berry, a French prince, who gave it to his uncle, Charles VI of France. It is in gold, decorated with jewels and scenes in enamel, with a cover and a boiled leather carrying case. It once had a triangular stand which has been lost. It weighs 1.935 kilos, so was perhaps used ceremonially rather than throughout meals.

Religion

A two-handled Natla (נַטְלָה) cup used for ritual washing in Judaism

In the Christian ritual of Communion, adherents drink from a cup of wine (or a wine substitute) to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus. A chalice is often used for this purpose. Ancient Greek religious practices included libations. The rhyton was one of many cup shapes used for libations.

Cuisine

The measuring cup, an adaptation of a simple cup, is a standard tool in cooking that has been in use at least as far back as Roman times. Apart from serving as drinking vessels, cups can be used as an alternative to bowls as a receptacle, especially, for soup. Recipes have been published for cooking various dishes in cups in the microwave.

Spa cups are special cups that are used to drink mineral or thermal water directly from a spring, developed in north-west Bohemia during the 17th century and are now part of Czech folklore.

Heraldry

Chalices are sometimes used in heraldry, especially ecclesiastical heraldry. A Kronkåsa is a type of elaborate wooden cup which was used by the Swedish nobility during the Renaissance.

Child development

Drinking from a cup is a significant step on a baby's path to becoming a toddler; it is recommended that children switch from bottles to cups between six months and one year of age. Sippy cups are typically used for this transition.

Sports

Many trophies take the form of a cup. In sports, competitions themselves often take on the name of the cup-shaped trophy awarded.

Many trophies take the form of a decorated cup, generally in metal. In cases such as the FIFA World Cup and the Stanley Cup, the competition itself may grow to take on the name of the trophy that is awarded to the winner. Owing to the common usage of cup-shaped trophies as prizes for the winners, a large number of national and international competitions are called "cups".

For large examples, the two-handled form based on the ancient kantharos is very often used. The size of many means that "vase" would be a more appropriate name, but "cup" has become established. Early trophies, mostly for horse-racing, were generally more simple goblet shapes.

Games

In Tarot divination, the suit of cups is associated with the element of water and is regarded as symbolizing emotion, intuition, and the soul. Cards that feature cups are often associated with love, relationships, fears, and desires.

Various cups have been designed so that drinking out of them without spilling is a challenge. These are called puzzle cups.

• Pythagorean cup
• Fuddling cup
• Puzzle jug

The cup game involves rhythmically striking plastic cups.

Promotion

In the developed world, cups are often distributed for promotional purposes. For example, a corporation might distribute cups with their logo at a trade show, or a city might hand out cups with slogans promoting recycling. There are companies that provide the service of printing slogans on cups.

For hot beverages

Teacups on saucers

While in theory, most cups are well suited to hold drinkable liquids, hot drinks like tea are generally served in either insulated cups or porcelain teacups.

• Coffee cup
• Mazagran
• Mug
• Teacup
• Thermos
• Travel mug
• Moustache cup

Metal and glass cups can use a double wall construction with a vacuum-sealed space in-between to reduce the loss of heat and keep outside surfaces cooler.

Disposable

Assorted plastic cups, commonly used for informal dining.

Disposable cups are intended to be used only once. They are often used by fast-food restaurants and coffee shops to serve beverages. Institutions that provide drinking water, such as offices and hospitals, may also use disposable cups for sanitary reasons.

• Paper cup
• Plastic cup
• Glass cup
• Foam cup

For alcoholic beverages

Some styles of cups are used primarily for alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, cocktail, and liquor. There are over a dozen distinct styles of cups for drinking beer, depending on the precise variety of beer. The idea that a certain beer should be served in a cup of a certain shape may have been promulgated more for marketing purposes, but there very well may be some basis in fact behind it. Wine glasses also come in different shapes, depending on the color and style of wine that is intended to be served in them.

• Beer stein
• Pint glass
• Old Fashioned glass
• Quaich
• Sake cup (ochoko)
• Shot glass
• Tankard
• Wine glass
• Goblet

For measurement, suction and breasts

• Measuring cup
• Suction cup
• Bra cup

Gallery

• 
  Minoan Kamares ware; 1800-1700 BC; from Phaistos (Crete); Archaeological Museum of Heraklion (Heraklion, Crete, Greece)
• 
  Hittite drinking cup in the shape of a fist; 1400-1380 BC; silver; from Central Turkey; Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, USA)
• 
  Roman two-handled glazed cup; 1st century BC-4th Century AD; glazed terracotta; Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum (Ankara, Turkey)
• 
  Rectangular wine cup (Zun) with a dragon; 1700s; grayish-white jade; overall: 14 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Neoclassical coffee cup with saucer; circa 1790; jasper ware with relief decoration; diameter: 13.6 cm; by the Wedgwood Factory (England); Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  French cup and saucer, decorated with Renaissance ornaments; 1880–1900; enamel and silver; overall: 6.5 x 8.5 x 6.5 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Art Nouveau cup; designed by Adolf Flad; 1902; porcelain; Bröhan Museum (Berlin, Germany)

Sources

• Allan, Keith (2020). "On Cups". Dynamics of Language Changes. Singapore: Springer Singapore. pp. 125–137. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-6430-7_8. ISBN 978-981-15-6429-1.
• Kronenfeld, D. (1996). Plastic Glasses and Church Fathers: Semantic Extension From the Ethnoscience Tradition. Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-535749-3. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
• Rigby, Stephen Henry (2003). A Companion to Britain in the Later Middle Ages (Illustrated ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-21785-5.
• Stock, Penelope F (January 24, 2008). "Polysemy" (PDF). Practical Lexicography. Oxford University Press. pp. 153–160. doi:10.1093/oso/9780199292332.003.0010. ISBN 978-0-19-929233-2.
• Wierzbicka, Anna (1984). "Cups and mugs: Lexicography and conceptual analysis". Australian Journal of Linguistics. 4 (2). Informa UK Limited: 205–255. doi:10.1080/07268608408599326. ISSN 0726-8602.

External links

• Media related to Cups at Wikimedia Commons
• Gallery of cups in The Metropolitan Museum of Art