MASTERPIECE

This is a glass that was used in a drinking game. Inside the stem is a silver dice. The player had to shake the empty glass to make the dice spin. The glass was then put down and the number of pips shown on the dice checked; the player then had to drink that number of glasses of wine. Then it was the next player’s turn.

Such dice cups or dice glasses are rare. They originate from a period, in the 16th and 17th century, when special drinking glasses were very popular in the Netherlands, England and Germany. These included glasses with rings, so that you could tinkle your glass when it was empty, or very different types of so-called trick glasses, for example, fuddling cups that are impossible to drink from due to an ingenious construction. Just like the dice cup, in one way or another, they all undoubtedly caused much hilarity among the drinking party.