17th C. Entertaining Equipage

Monteith's were made in considerable numbers for almost a century and a half. In most instances, the bowl is fitted with a loose rim, molded in the characteristic outlines.

Thought by many people to be punch bowls, these are in fact coolers for drinking glasses. The Oxford diarist, Anthony à Wood, noted them in 1683: “This year in the summer time came up a vessel or bason, notched at the brims, to let drinking vessels hang in there by the foot, so that the body or drinking place might hang in the water to cool them. Such a bason was called a Monteigh from a fantastical Scot called Monsieur Monteigh, who at that time, or a little before, wore the bottoms of his cloake or coate so notched.”

Anthony à Wood - photo Public Domain

In 1773, Doctor Johnson defined a Monteith as “a vessel in which the glasses are washed.” Monteith's were made in considerable numbers for almost a century and a half. In most instances, the bowl was fitted with a loose rim molded in the characteristic outlines. — From the book,  “1500-1820:  Three Centuries of English Domestic Silver”, by Bernard and Therle Hughes

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