Pocket Bottle

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Pocket Bottle
Datec. 1815–1850
Probable placeOhio, United States
MediumNonlead glass
Dimensions6 1/8 in. height (15.6 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.457
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Washington Hall
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This type of pocket bottle (see also B.58.29, B.58.30, B.58.31) was made by the German half post method, in which a partially inflated gather (the post) was dipped into the molten glass to add a second layer (the half post) that extends part way up the body. The ribbing on each layer was made in a ribbed dip mold, and in the case where the maker wanted a swirl, he would twist the gather after it was removed from the dip mold. In the 1920s it was thought that this type of bottle was only made at the Pitkin Glassworks in East Hartford, Connecticut, and “Pitkin” became their generic name. In actuality, they were produced at many factories in both New England and the Midwest.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


ProvenanceJacob Paxson Temple (1880–1924), Tanguy, Pennsylvania; consigned to [American Art Galleries, New York, The Jacob Paxson Temple Collection: Two Hundred Years of Glasswork in America, November 17, 1923, lot 638]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1923; given to MFAH, 1969.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Pocket Bottle
c. 1785–1825
Nonlead glass
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Pocket Bottle
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Pocket Bottle
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Nonlead glass
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Pocket Bottle
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Toilet Water Bottle
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Nonlead glass
B.69.478.A,.B
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c. 1775–1825
Nonlead glass with enamel and pewter
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c. 1733
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c. 1840–1870
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B.79.93