Mid-Victorian silver hip flask
Mid-Victorian silver hip flask
8056
Mid-Victorian sterling silver hip flask with an elegantly shaped tapering body, decorated on both sides with a smart engine-turned lattice pattern. The flask has a screw-turn removable cap with a secure cork seal.
Capacity 5½ fl oz which is equivalent to approximately four Scottish drams or six English tots.
They began to appear in the form that we recognise today during the 18th century, and were initially used by members of the gentry. Hip flasks have traditionally been curved and slim, shaped like the human kidney and, as the name suggests, hip flasks most people would usually conceal them alongside their hips - in pockets, belts, waistbands, or even kilts!
Did you know, in America the word hipster was used to identify people carrying hip flasks during Prohibition; and more hip flasks were sold in the first six months of Prohibition than during the entire previous decade!
Dimensions:
c1860
Birmingham
Excellent
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