Cupping-glass (Accepted)
A cupping-glass is a medical instrument, consisting of an unornamented wide-mouthed vessel of glass or ceramic. In use, smoldering material was fixed to the vessel’s bottom, and the mouth placed on the patient’s skin; a partial vacuum was created in the vessel as the material burned. This drew the blood to the skin, which was supposed to improve the patient’s circulation.
The cupping-glass does not appear to have been used in armory; the one Society registration to date depicts a 19th C. version. The illustration shows a more medieval form, taken from da Siena, La regime du corps, c.1287. The cupping-glass’s mouth is to chief by Society default. See also cup, flask.
Robin of Mannefeld bears: Sable mullety, in a cupping-glass inverted argent, a rose purpure, barbed and seeded proper.