Pair of Early 20th Century Tapering Punch Cups

This is a nice example of a pair of early 20th century punch cups. The term ‘punch’ is first recorded in British documents, which date back to 1632. The drink was brought back to England from India by employees of the British East India Company in the early 17th century. The term punch is said to have been derived from the Hindi word ‘panch’ meaning five. This relates to the fact that the drink was made from five different ingredients – spirit, sugar, lemon, water or tea, and spices. The cups are relatively shallow with a slightly everted rim. The base is polished flat. The applied handle is curved and extends virtually the entire height of the cup. Each cup has a height of approximately 5.0cm, with a diameter at the rim of about 6.0cm and at the base of about 4.3cm. They are in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks.