This Month

Must-see exhibitions at The National Gallery and the Royal Academy, plus an Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts auction, antique punch bowls and lots more...

- CAROLINE WHEATER & RACHEL NOTT

THE ANTIQUE

Punch bowls

Readers old enough to remember the 1960s and '70s will know that punch was often drunk at parties. It was a heady blend of rum, brandy or gin, diluted with water or soda water or cider and embellished with floating slices of citrus fruit or apples. Needless to say, the roots of punch go far back, to 17th-century India in fact, when a similar drink called 'panch' (meaning five) was drunk. It was a concoction comprising five elements - strong, weak, sweet, sour and spicy (think cloves and nutmeg) which we still emulate today. The punch habit spread rapidly to Europe and by the 18th century it was the height of fashion, served with a ladle from large ceramic or silver bowls into individual glasses. Punch bowls proliferated; they could be commemorative, or decorated with the names of societies and guilds, or made as gifts for people. In the 19th century, as glass became easier and cheaper to produce, glass punch bowls with matching drinking glasses were produced, which gave the blended drink universal reach. With punch trending once more, why not go the whole hog and serve it from an antique bowl? At auction you can pick up a ceramic example from £100 upwards, paying more for something rare or of top quality, and investing in a punch ladle adds that authentic touch.

THE EXHIBITIONS

Lucian Freud: New Perspectives

Until 22nd January, The National Gallery, London