History of Leather Drinking Vessels

The history of leather drinking vessels stretches from ancient times to the time of the Crimean war and is a very British history.

Moulded leather vessels may date back to early Egyptian times when some pottery forms followed the shape and style of skin bags. A relief on the Rekhmire Tomb clearly resembles a leather bottle. An early Nubian pre-dynastic grave has revealed a leather vessel at the head of the occupant where a pottery one would normally be expected. Pan graves of 1600 BC att Mostagedda contain solid forms of the shape of clay pots which may represent cores for shaping such leather vessels.

Moving to western Europe, Neolithic leather beakers and a small bowl were found in Schleswig, Switzerland and a Neolithic beaker was found at West Smithfield, London, made of tanned cowhide with some hair still attached, Neolithic pottery suggests an origin in leather bowls with bag like shapes and seams being reproduced.

Britain has been the home of leather vessels for longer and in higher numbers than anywhere else in history and their existence has become quintessentially British.

                     

In 1848, near Buxton, a leather cup with a silver lip was found in a Saxon Barrow. In the manuscript entitled “Colloquy of Archbishop Alfric” are comments attributed to a “shoe-wright” in which he describes the articles he makes including “shoes, ankle-leathers, and bottles, bridle-thongs, flasks and bougets”

The bouget was a pair of waterproof leather bags joined by the kneck and may correctly be referred to as a drinking vessel. Introduced in to England during the Crusades, it was the fore-runner of the hard bodied leather water bottle.

The Black Jack`s name is derived from the materials used in its construction. Leather that has been soaked in hot water and dried is known as Jack leather. The same source can be attributed to the name for German Jackboots and Medieval Arming Jacks. This is also the origin of the modern word “jacket“. Jacks were originally black because the black material used to line the inside, was used on the outside of the vessel thus colouring it. For a description of the materials we use, see Factsheet Page.


In the village of Hallaton, Northamptonshire, the sport of bottle kicking was very popular. More recently made of wood, the bottle was originally made of leather making one wonder if this was the origin of the leather football.

In the Black Country during the early steel industry, the Black Jack was known as a Piggin. With a whistle attached to the handle it was used by thirsty steel workers to summon the water boy, hence the name Piggin Whistle which became a popular pub name, The Pig and Whistle. In the Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley the same Jacks had bells attached to the handle for similar use and were known as Jingle Boys.

                           
During Elizabethan times, even wealthy merchant families would possess just one wine glass because of the high cost of Venetian glass. Placed in the middle of the table and used communally, it would be refilled by a man stood in the corner with a leather bottle and known as the botellar or, in modern terms, the butler.

Leather drinking vessels are closely associated with the social history of the country and their use continues to the present day.