Product Description

Alcohol is a mood changer, a pleasure of the flesh, and a metaphor for indulgence. It has enhanced life; stimulated a flood of art, advertising, and interior design; generated new objects from the corkscrew to the cocktail shaker; and fueled vivid celebrations of rites of passage, victories; and state occasions over the past 500 years.

Cartoonists have exploited alcohol in every possible way; painters have depicted the wine-sodden excesses of classical gods; architects have devised grottoes, beer gardens, gin palaces, and wine bars; and potters, goldsmiths, and glassmakers have designed an extraordinary diversity of bowls and decanters, containers and cases, tankards and glasses, from Fabergé’s jeweled vodka cups to Meissen wine coolers.

The Art of Drinking is a celebration and exploration of the extraordinary range of visual material created to exploit, celebrate, sell, and simply enjoy alcoholic beverages.

About the Author

Philippa Glanville is the author and editor of Silver and Elegant Eating with Hilary Young. Formerly Head of the Metalwork Department at the V&A and Academic Director of Waddesdon Manor, she is now a Senior Research Fellow at the Museum.

Sophie Lee is curator of continental and English silver at the V&A and is the author of a catalogue of historic silver at the Worshipful Company of Vintners, City of London.