The gourd, too, was used for similar purposes; the
Mexicans made such bowls and cups, finishing them off with silver mounts
and sometimes adding silver feet. There are French flasks made of small
gourds, sometimes scent flasks being made in the same way, not
infrequently decorated with incised inlays of coloured composition on a
black ground. Some of the English silversmiths engraved hunting scenes
on small flasks made of the rind of a gourd, choosing hunting scenes and
birds and familiar outdoor objects.

In Figs. 21 and 21A are shown two curious old wood drinking cups, and
Fig. 22 represents a wooden jug bound with copper.

Horn was a favourite material for cups, sometimes surmounted by
elaborate covers and feet of silver. One of the rarest drinking horns,
now in Queen's College, Oxford, was presented to the College by the
Queen of Edward III in 1340. Of later types there are beakers and
tumbler cups, the latter rounded at the base so that they were easily
upset, the idea being that they must be emptied at the first draught.
From these cups sprang the quaint hunting cups in porcelain, modelled in
the form of a hare's head, or like a fox, some of the scarcest being
evidently modelled for the fisherman's use, to take the form of a fish's
head.

The very remarkable drinking cup shown in Fig. 27 is made of walnut;
the ridges, carved in deep relief, stand out boldly, each one being
carved, the letters forming a complete metaphor, to which is added the
name of its original owner, the inscription reading as follows:--

"TAKE . NOT . FROM . ME .
AL . MY . STOR . AXCP . YE .
FILL . ME . VEE . SVME . MOR .
FOR . AV . TO . BORROV .
AND . NEVER . TO . PAY .
I . CALL . THAT .
FOVLL . PLAY .
ION WATSON 1695."

Trays and Waiters.

In olden time not very far from the dining table stood the cupboard or
buffet from which evolved the sideboard. On it were displayed the cups
and flagons and table appointments not actually in use. It is true the
servants carried the great dishes from the kitchen, and removed the
lesser vessels on trays and "waiters," and it is such trays, especially
those in silver and Sheffield plate used in the last century, which are
now valuable. The waiter or serving man or woman has been an essential
feature in domestic service from the earliest times, for the history of
society invariably records those who wait at table:--

"The waiters stand in ranks; the yeomen cr