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MONTEITH
It is a vessel with notched rims used to cool drinking glasses. The monteith became popular during the
last two decades of the seventeenth century.
It may have a fixed or detachable collar with series of scallops, vertical or bent outwards, so that wine
cups can be suspended by the foot allowing the bowl to be cooled by immersion in iced water.
The monteith derives its name after a gentlemen of fashion, of the name Monteith (or Monteigh), who was remarkable for
wearing a scalloped coat (A. Wood, in 1683 mentions a " a fantastical Scott called 'Monsieur Monteigh' who
wore the bottome of his cloake or coate so notched").
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Monteiths usually have fluted bodies with lion's head ring handles.
The bowl rests on a foot-ring or a splayed-foot and is usually decorated with gadrooning, embossing or
vertical fluting.
The monteith is the erliest form of the punch bowl and later examples served as a punch-bowl when the removable rim
was detached.
These rims were very ornamental and added much to the appearance of the bowl when placed
upon the sidebord as an ornament. But when time elapsed the custom of using silver drinking vessels
gradually died out, for the wine glasses had already taken the place of the smaller vessels and cups,
the use of monteith was abandoned.
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