Washington Winter Show 2019

58 five barrels of rum, one barrel of good brown sugar, a box of fine lemons, and two loaves of sugar [i.e., the makings of punch]. As a natural consequence, two thirds of the frame fell, and many were injured.” 13 Punch could even be used as a medium of exchange; in 1736, William Randolph of Virginia bought 2,400 acres from the Crown. His neighbor Peter Jefferson — whose son Thomas would be born seven years later — was interested in part of the tract. Randolph sold a first 2,00 acres to Jefferson for £50, and another 200 acres (presumably less choice) for “Henry Wetherburn’s biggest bowl of arrack punch to him delivered.” It sounds like quite a bargain, but drinking historian David Wondrich estimates that with Wetherburn’s markup, as the most stylish tavern in Williamsburg, such a bowl easily could have cost Jefferson £10. 14 By the third decade of the century, punch was associated more with cultured living` than debauchery. When, in 1728, Colonel William Byrd was trying to chart the border between Virginia and Carolina, his slog through the backwoods portion of the colonies was relieved when he reached a civilized residence where they “drank Rack- Punch” and “trod on Carpets.” 15 In 1732, the Schuykill Fishing Company, a private fishing club in Philadelphia, was founded. Their “Fish House Punch,” of rum, cognac, and peach brandy, supposedly dates to the beginning and is probably the most famous punch in America — an 18th- century holdover continued to the present day. A decade later, William Black noted that the club’s punch bowl was “big enough for a goose to swim in.” 16 This unique punch bowl is engraved with six names and six coats of arms, suggesting a club. At less than 8 inches in diameter, the members may have drunk their punch directly from the bowl. Punch bowl by John Burt, 1740–45, Boston, Winterthur Museum Purchase in honor of Donald L. Fennimore, funds provided in part by Mr. Denison H. Hatch, The Hohmann Foun- dation, Mr. and Mrs. P. Coleman Townsend, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. John L. McGraw, Dr. Richard C. Weiss and Dr. Sandra R. Harmon-Weiss, Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Vieser, and other friends. 2004.52 “I shall be Drunk, I tell you Massey” proclaims one of Peter Manigault’s guests in this drawing; the table is dominated by the large punch bowl and its ladle. “Peter Manigault and His Friends,” 1757–60, by George Roupell (1726–94), Charleston, South Carolina, Drawing in graphite, ink, and wash on laid paper, Museum purchase, Winterthur Museum, 1963.73