Antique Scottish Drinking Vessels
- Jan 6, 2021
- 1 min read
Here we have some 19th century drinking vessels made in Scotland.
Three of them, the luggie and the bickers, are constructed of wooden staves of alternating woods usually sycamore and alder. The really skilled part is the feather banding between each stave, perfectly cut to fill the gaps in order to make the vessel watertight. This would have been done by hand with a knife. Each stave is grooved horizontally on the inside near the base to take the bottom. The vessel would then be bound with willow, carefully chosen for its size and would be laced meticulously to hold the staves in position.
A luggie is a circular straight sided vessel with one of the staves extending to be used as a handle so that it could be used easier as a ladle. The one in the images is a particularly large example measuring 19cm w and the handle is 27cm long, the majority are usually around 10cm w. The luggie would be filled up with ale and most probably used to refill the bickers.
The word bicker stems from the root word beaker, these two Scottish bickers again are circular staved vessel but two of the staves extend out to for lugs or handles. The large one measures 17cm w including the handles and the small example measures 8cm w.
The fourth vessel is a Scottish quaich a shallow curved circular bowl with two handles made from one piece of wood, this example has a round bottom. These quaich were used for drinking spirits and the small ones would have been for individual use, larger ones would have been passed round and were for ceremonial use.
I enjoyed the perspective shared throughout this article. It feels like the writer has taken time to think about what readers actually need to know. The result is informative, approachable, and genuinely helpful.
This was a great find! I liked the fact that the article stays focused on the topic while still providing enough detail to keep things interesting. It answered some questions I had and gave me a few new things to consider.
I found the information here much more practical than I expected. The article focuses on points that readers can actually relate to, which makes the content more meaningful. Really appreciate the effort put into creating such a useful post.
I really enjoyed the way this article approaches the topic from a reader’s point of view. The information is clear, useful, and presented without unnecessary complexity. It gave me a few valuable things to think about after reading it.
I enjoyed the perspective shared here because it feels thoughtful and realistic. The article doesn’t just provide information but also gives the reader something to consider. Thanks for sharing such meaningful content.