] A little while ago Faith R posted a question about when teacups started to have handles. I was just wondering whether the British expression "to have a *dish* of tea" came from the days when the containers people drank tea from were actually more like dishes (bowls) rather than cups. (not a very strong JA connection, I know...)

All I know is that in earlier periods, the Ancient Greek to years later, people drank from bowles instead of cups. They were sort of dishes with upstanding sides. They used to drink the wine in such bowles, because then they could smell the wine and drink it at the same time.