Spout Cup

John Edwards

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the specialized forms of drinking vessels produced in late seventeenth-century America was the spout cup. The long, narrow, sharply curved spout enabled a child or bedridden adult to sip more easily from the cup, the handle of which was placed at right angles to the spout to assist the server. On this example tooth marks are evident around the open end. This cup belonged to Elizabeth Greenleaf, who is thought to have been the first female apothecary in America.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art