Cupping set, formerly owned by Mr. John Taylor, obstetrician to Winston Churchill's mother. In wet cupping procedures, a vacuum created within glass cups would be used to suck blood out of wounds made on the surface of the skin. It was believed, up until the end of the nineteenth century that excess bodily 'humours' caused disease and bloodletting procedures were believed to treat a wide range of ailments. This set dates from around the year 1870, England.