Antique Collecting articles Winning with Blackjacks

Winning with Blackjacks
On the eve of an auction of a significant collection of blackjacks and bombards,
Mark Stephen uncovers the history of these most English of drinking vessels
and reveals how to spot a fake

Three jacks, late 17th century to early 18th century, far right showing a painted crest

NEXT MONTH SEES A SINGLE-OWNER
collection of blackjacks, bombards
(their larger version) and leather
bottles go under the hammer at
Christie’s. Despite their collectability,
information on this type of early
drinking ware is relatively sparse. Apart
from auction catalogues and the
occasional literary mention, there are
remarkably few references to these
splendid vessels.
Their origin goes back to Medieval
times when lords of the manor looked
after entourages of servants and
retainers and communal meals served in
great halls were the norm. Beer would
have been brewed on site and at meal
times transported from the buttery in
leather vessels, known as blackjacks, to
be poured into treen or horn beakers.
Leather was suitable because, unlike
pottery, it wouldn’t break if dropped
and, unlike pewter, it was light enough
for large-scale construction.
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Uniquely English
Blackjacks made of thick tanned ox-hide
are considered to be unique to England.
They are not found in Continental
museums or collections. What is found
on the Continent are softer and thinner
leather bags and pouches rather than
the harder, thicker British jacks. Though
European, these pouches were also a
feature of Medieval England judging by
a number of depictions of ‘waterbougets’ in English heraldry, the bouget
being a pear-shaped leather water sack.
A written source by Heywood in 1635
refers to `great Blackjacks and bombards
at the Court’ and indicates the surprise
of French visitors; ‘When the French-men
first saw, they reported at their returne
into their Countrey, that the Englishmen
used to drink out of their Bootes’ .
About the only reference to blackjacks
found in France is in an inventory for
English monks who settled in Douai in
France, but it is safe to assume they took

possessions with them from England, for
in 1624 they possessed `two Blacke
Jackes to drawe beare in’. The term ‘jack’
probably originated from a jerkin worn
by retainers and soldiers, hence `black
jack’ to differentiate the tarred drinking
jacks from the clothing. Other references
to leather jacks are found in drinking
songs – one specifically called The
Leather-Bottell originating in
Elizabethan England – and the names of
taverns including At the sign of the
leather bottle. In the third part of Henry
VI, (Act 2, scene V) Shakespeare refers to
a shepherd and `his cold thin drink out
of a leather bottle’. Other references to
jacks are found in 1414 when New
College Oxford purchased `four leather
jacks, two gallon and two pottle’ and, in
1567, Corpus Christi Cambridge
purchased a `black-jack’ for one shilling.
The Englishness of the form is partly
what accounts for their popularity among
collectors. In fact, the shape of the