The dram cup is recorded in English silver as early as the fourteenth century, and in the American colonies its popularity persisted until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Previously its name was thought to refer to the vessel's capacity; however, variations in size among the surviving examples suggest otherwise. In this period the word “dram” referred to a small draught of liquor, which offers a more plausible explanation of the name.  Fewer than forty examples of Hull and Sanderson’s flatware and holloware are known from a partnership that spanned more than three decades. The existing forms encompass spoons, porringers, two-handled cups, beakers, wine cups, a tankard, and dram cups.

It is believed that this diminutive cup was made for Daniel and Patience Denison.  As early as 1635 Denison served as a representative to the Massachusetts General Court. By 1652, when the court appointed John Hull mint master, Denison was its speaker, and he remained a member of the Court for the rest of his life.

Technical notes: The body is raised, the handles are twisted wire. The results of a nondestructive energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis are on file at Bayou Bend.

Related examples: Approximately a dozen American dram cups survive, four of them from the Hull and Sanderson shop, including Buhler 1972, vol. 1, pp. 6, 9, nos. 3, 6; Buhler and Hood 1970, vol. 1, p. 3, no. I.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff.  American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.