Cupel (Noun)
Meaning
A small porous bowl made of bone ash used in assaying to separate precious metals from e.g. lead.
Classification
Nouns denoting man-made objects.
Examples
- The assayer carefully placed the lead-containing ore into the cupel, awaiting the results of the test.
- During the medieval period, cupels made from bone ash were widely used in metallurgy labs for metallic assays.
- The cupel's porosity allowed it to selectively absorb the molten lead while leaving behind the denser, more valuable metals.
- Goldsmiths would regularly employ cupels to assess and process various metal ores.
- A broken cupel was rendered useless, as even slight damage compromised the entire assaying process.