# Tankard > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tankard > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tankard.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankard > Source revision: 1343812857 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Drinking vessel}} {{other uses}} [[File:MaryRose-wooden tankard1.JPG|thumb|A wooden tankard found on board the 16th-century [carrack](/source/carrack) ''[Mary Rose](/source/Mary_Rose)'']] A '''tankard''' is a form of [drinkware](/source/drinkware) consisting of a large, roughly [cylindrical](/source/Cylinder_(geometry)), drinking cup with a single handle. In recent centuries tankards were typically made of [silver](/source/silver) or [pewter](/source/pewter), but they can be made of other materials, for example glass, wood, [pottery](/source/pottery), or [boiled leather](/source/boiled_leather).{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=58893#s2|title=Tankard at British History Online|access-date=2008-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525171754/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=58893#s2|archive-date=2011-05-25|url-status=dead}} A tankard may have a hinged [lid](/source/Lid_(container)), and tankards featuring glass bottoms are also fairly common. [Beer stein](/source/Beer_stein)s have a similar shape and use. ==Wooden tankards== The word "tankard" originally meant any wooden vessel (13th century) and later came to mean a drinking vessel. The earliest tankards were made of wooden staves, similar to a [barrel](/source/barrel), and did not have lids. A 2000-year-old wooden tankard of approximately four-pint capacity has been unearthed in Wales.[https://tankardblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/vintage-tankard-time-1.html Tankard Blog][https://museum.wales/articles/2010-04-01/Ancient-Drinking-Culture-The-Langstone-Tankard/ Langstone tankard] thumb|Tankard recovered from ''Gribshunden'' shipwreck (1495) A late medieval example of a fine tankard milled from alder wood was recovered by underwater archaeologists excavating the wreck of the royal Danish-Norwegian flagship, ''[Gribshunden](/source/Gribshunden)'' which sank in 1495. When excavated, the tankard's lid was still securely in place, and gas from the degradation of the medieval beverage was trapped inside.{{Cite journal |last=Foley |first=Brendan |date=2024-01-31 |title=Interim Report on Gribshunden (1495) Excavations: 2019–2021 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/acar/94/1/article-p132_10.xml |journal=Acta Archaeologica |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=132–145 |doi=10.1163/16000390-09401052 |issn=0065-101X|doi-access=free }} ==Glass bottoms== Metal tankards often come with a glass bottom. The legend is that the glass-bottomed tankard was developed as a way of refusing the [King's shilling](/source/King's_shilling), i.e., conscription into the British Army or Navy. The drinker could see the coin in the bottom of the glass and refuse the drink, thereby avoiding conscription. However, this is likely a fable since the Navy could [press](/source/Impressment) by force, rendering deception unnecessary.{{cite web|url=http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/broadside7.html|title=The Impress Service|accessdate=2014-05-13|archivedate=2014-05-12|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512231540/http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/broadside7.html|author=Paul Gooddy|url-status=live}} A further story is that the glass bottom merely allowed the drinker to judge the clarity of their drink while forgoing the expense of a fragile pint glass.{{cite web |url=https://www.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/the-late-18th-century-john-ingram-and-charles-hunt/ |title=Revolutionary Players Pewter Tankards|date=24 September 2015 }} Glass bottoms are sometimes [retrofitted](/source/retrofitted) to antique tankards, reducing their value and authenticity. ==Conversions== Covered tankards fell out of fashion in 19th-century England resulting in a number of them being converted to other roles such as jugs.{{cite book |editor-last=Bly |editor-first=John |date=2002 |title=Is it Genuine How to Collect Antiques with Confidence |publisher=Octopus Publishing group |page=121 |isbn=0753708582}} ==Modern tankards== Metal and ceramic tankards are still manufactured but are regarded as specialty or novelty items. Modern metal tankards are often engraved to commemorate some occasion. Glass tankards—that is, straight-sided or inward-sloping glass vessels with [strap handle](/source/strap_handle)s—are still in everyday use.{{Cn|date=April 2024}} ==Lead leaching from pewter== In previous centuries, the [pewter](/source/pewter) used to make tankards often contained [lead](/source/lead), which exposed the drinker to medical effects, ranging from heavy metal poisoning to [gout](/source/gout).{{cite web |url=https://www.dcnutrition.com/News/Detail.CFM?RecordNumber=299 |title=Ease Gout Pain|date=19 January 2000 }} This effect was exacerbated in [cider](/source/cider)-drinking areas —such as [Somerset](/source/Somerset)— as the acidity of the cider leached the lead from the pewter more quickly.{{Cn|date=April 2024}} [Clay](/source/Clay) tankards became prevalent in this area. Pewter is now widely lead-free. ==In popular culture== A 1970s TV advertising campaign for [Whitbread](/source/Whitbread) beer features a [pub landlord](/source/pub_landlord) spinning a [tall tale](/source/tall_tale) to an American tourist, who suspiciously asks: "Are you ''really'' Lord Tankard?"{{Cite web |url=http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=81325.60 |title=A Allotment and Vegetable Gardening |access-date=2011-09-11 |archive-date=2012-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402101720/http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=81325.60 |url-status=dead }}{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} In [Season 3](/source/Cheers_season_3), Episode 3 of the sitcom ''[Cheers](/source/Cheers)'', Frasier Crane says to his bartender friend Sam, “Well, I’ll have a tanker of your finest lager.”{{cn|date=June 2025}} ==Gallery== File:Terracotta tankard MET DP121207.jpg|A white [slipware](/source/slipware) tankard from [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus), {{Circa|1600}}–1150 B.C Image:Tankard2.jpg|Little ceramic tankard with lid Image:Pewter Tankard.jpg|Pewter tankard File:IV BM 00535.jpg|Modern glass tankard Image:A NORWEGIAN BURR-BIRCH TANKARD.jpg|A 19th-century Norwegian burr-birch tankard ==See also== *[Beer stein](/source/Beer_stein) *[Häufebecher](/source/H%C3%A4ufebecher) *[Kronkåsa](/source/Kronk%C3%A5sa) *[Maß](/source/Ma%C3%9F) ==References== {{reflist}} {{Glassware}} Category:Drinkware Category:Beer vessels and serving [ca:Xop (atuell)](/source/ca%3AXop_(atuell)) [it:Boccale](/source/it%3ABoccale) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tankard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.