MAZER  , the name of a

special type of drinking vessel, properly made of maple-wood, and so-called from the spotted or " birds-eye " marking on the wood (Ger . Maser, spot, marking, especially on wood; cf . " measles ") . These drinking vessels are shallow bowls without handles, with a broad flat foot and a knob or boss in the centre of the inside, known technically as the " print." They were made from the 13th to the 16th centuries, and were the most prized of the various wooden cups in use, and so were ornamented with a rim of precious metal, generally of silver or silver gilt; the foot and the " print " being also of metal . The depth of the mazers seems to have decreased in course of time, those of the 16th century that survive being much shallower than the earlier examples . There are examples with wooden covers with a metal handle, such as the Flemish and German mazers in the Franks Bequest in the British Museum . On the metal rim is usually an inscription, religious or bacchanalian, and the "print" was also often decorated . The later mazers sometimes had metal straps between the rim and the foot . A very fine mazer with silver gilt ornamentation 3 in. deep and 91 in. in diameter was sold in the Braikenridge collection in 1908 for £2300 . It bears the London hall-mark of 1534 . This example is illustrated in the article PLATE: see also DRINKING VESSELS .