Cup
A cup is an open-top container used to hold or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt).[1][2] Cups may be made of glass, metal, china,[3] clay, wood, stone, polystyrene, plastic, aluminium or other materials, and are usually fixed with a stem, handles, or other adornments. Cups are used for quenching thirst across a wide range of cultures and social classes,[4] and different styles of cups may be used for different liquids or in different situations.[5] Cups of different styles may be used for different types of liquids or other foodstuffs (e.g. teacups and measuring cups), in different situations (e.g. at water stations or in ceremonies and rituals),or for decoration.[5][6]
Cups are an improvement on using cupped hands or feet to hold liquids. They have almost certainly been used since before recorded history, and have been found at archaeological sites throughout the world. Prehistoric cups were sometimes fashioned from shells and hollowed out stones.[7]
In ancient Mesopotamia, cups were made for a variety of purposes, possibly including the transportation and drinking of alcoholic beverages.[8]
There is an evidence that the Roman Empire may have spread the use of cups throughout Europe,[citation needed] with notable examples including silver cups in Wales and a color-changing glass cup in ancient Thrace.[9][10] In England, cups have been discovered which date back to several thousand years, including the Rillaton Gold Cup, about 3,700 years old. Cups were used in the Americas several centuries prior to the European arrivals.[11] Around the Gulf of Mexico, Native American societies used the Horse conch for drinking cups, among other purposes.[12]
Ancient Egyptian lotiform cup; 1295-1185 BC; faience; height: 15 cm, diameter: 9.1 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Chinese cup and saucer; 1745; porcelain; diameter: 10.2 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, Ohio, USA)
.jpg/440px-Cup_and_Saucer_LACMA_47.35.6a-b_(1_of_3).jpg)
.jpg){kind=link}
