Coventry Glass Works
Figured Flask

Public Domain

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Images(2)

Maker Coventry Glass Works (American, active 1813–1849)American, active 1813–1849

CultureAmerican

Titles

Figured Flask

Datec. 1824–1825

Made inCoventry, Connecticut, United States

MediumNonlead glass

Dimensions7 3/8 × 4 1/8 × 2 5/8 in. (18.7 × 10.5 × 6.7 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg

Object numberB.58.45

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Kilroy Center

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 (1846–48). This flask features a bust portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette, the Revolutionary War hero who returned to the United States in 1824 for a grand tour in celebration of the country’s upcoming fiftieth anniversary. On the opposite side is a portrait bust of New York governor De Witt Clinton, the primary force behind the construction of the Erie Canal, which was completed in 1825.
Provenance[Samuel H. Laidacker (1904–1994), Bristol, Pennsylvania]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1958; given to MFAH, by 1966.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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