A kusztyk (alternative spellings: kuszyk or kulawka) is a glass goblet without a base. Its design is such that it cannot be placed upright, thereby requiring its contents to be entirely drunk before the vessel can safely be set down again.[1] This vessel type reached a height in popularity in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Poland. Though the origin of its unusual shape remains unclear, it is supposed that the kusztyk would have contained alcohol (likely champagne, or a sparkling wine) or water that was chilled in ice buckets prior to serving.[2] The kusztyk remains a facet of Polish banqueting custom today as a vessel raised during toasts.
It has been acknowledged that the kusztyk shares a visual similarity with the ancient Greek rhyton, however, it is unlikely that these vessels were employed during equivalent ritualistic occasions.[3] It is more certain that the kusztyk has a shared history with the so-called, Hodgett’s decanter, which was popular in eighteenth-century England.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Welsh, David J., ‘Sienkiewicz’s “Trilogy”. A Study in Novelistic Techniques’, in XV Antemurale, Rome: Institutum Historicum Polonicum Romae, 1971, p. 272.
- ^ "Carafe without a foot".
- ^ "Kulawka i ryton, czyli intrygująca historia kieliszków bez stopki | Blog | e-sklep Krosno Glass S.A".
- ^ "Carafe without a foot".