Punch bowl

[6] The ubiquity of the punch bowl as a household item is illustrated in this 1832 quote: The punch-bowl was an indispensable vessel in every house above the humblest class.

[6]Occasionally, less likely vessels were used as punch bowls, such as a marble fountain to serve 6,000: On the 15th October 1694 Admiral Edward Russell, then commanding the Mediterranean fleet, gave a grand entertainment at Alicante.

The tables were laid under the shade of orange-trees, in four garden-walks meeting in a common centre, at a marble fountain, which last, for the occasion, was converted into a Titanic punch-bowl.

An elegant canopy placed over the potent liquor, prevented waste by evaporation, or dilution by rain; while, in a boat, built expressly for the purpose, a ship-boy rowed round the fountain, to assist in filling cups for the six thousand persons who partook of it.

[6] The American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the poem On Lending a Punch-bowl about an old silver punch bowl.