Ten true little oddities

Well, that’s
a curious cup.

From moustache guards to secret passages: small discoveries with museum sources.

A guard for the whiskers.

A moustache cup has an extra piece across the drinking edge to help keep a waxed moustache clear.

Dalnavert’s large example has an inscription teasing its owner about finally receiving a cup big enough.

Puzzle jugs could have perforated necks that thwart an ordinary attempt to drink. They were deliberate challenges.

The V&A recreation uses a passage beneath the handle and covered spouts to make the puzzle jug work.

Cups decorated with Charles II appeared after the Restoration in 1660. Political loyalty could reach the drinking table.

The V&A shows novelty stirrup cups, including a fish-shaped example. Some rounded vessels cannot stand upright when filled.

A Kyoto coffee set’s wooden box uses that phrase, reflecting changing terminology as coffee drinking developed in Japan.

Eiraku Myōzen directed the workshop responsible for the Smithsonian’s Kyoto coffee cups and saucers, dated around 1909–27.

The V&A’s original refreshment room opened in 1856. It identifies this as a world first for a museum restaurant.

Surfaces in the V&A refreshment rooms were selected partly to resist steam and food odours and help cleaning.