How do you drink from a jug with holes around its neck? Puzzle jugs were made for tavern drinking games: tip one like an ordinary jug and the drink spills out.

The solution is hidden inside. In this design, a passage through the handle connects the drink to the rim. Cover the right openings, then suck through a spout instead of tipping. The pottery turns a wrong move into a practical joke.

A jug that makes you solve a puzzle to drink

An 18th-century puzzle jug with pierced neck and multiple rim spouts — Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Bristol puzzle jug, about 1770–75, museum no. 275-1896. Original photograph.

A simplified schematic shows a hidden drinking route through the handle — Pandi explanatory schematic of a hidden drinking route, based on the V&A’s description. Designs vary; not a technical drawing of the museum object.

Another 18th-century puzzle jug from the Metropolitan Museum of Art — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access / public domain. Another 18th-century puzzle jug, accession 30.70.3; original photograph.

A jug that makes you solve a puzzle to drink

Explore related topics