Figured Flask

Public Domain

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Images(2)

Maker Baltimore Glass Works(American, 1800–1890)American, 1800–1890

CultureAmerican

Titles

Figured Flask

Datec. 1847

Made inBaltimore, Maryland, United States

MediumNonlead glass

Dimensions5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg

Object numberB.72.81

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Glazed Porch

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

GLASS

DescriptionAmerican glassmakers produced small, rounded, and flattened forms as pocket bottles or flasks in the 1700s. By the 1820s, mold-blown flasks with images on both sides grew in popularity. Many featured portraits of political or military leaders, patriotic emblems, and slogans, images of abundance or technological achievement, or decorative designs such as sunbursts and scrolls. Another popular subject was the United States’ victory in the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848. One side of this flask features an image of the Washington Monument in Baltimore, which was substantially completed in 1829. The other side is inscribed “A little more grape,” a popular misquote of a command given by General Zachary Taylor to artillery officer Braxton Bragg during the Mexican-American War battle at Buena Vista.
Provenance[McKearin’s Antiques, Hoosick Falls, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1954; given to MFAH, 1972.
Published References McKearin, Helen, and Kenneth M. Wilson. American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry. New York: Crown Publishers, 1978, p.605, GVI–1.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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