Tumbler

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Tumbler
Datec. 1800–1870
Made inUnited States
MediumHorn, wood
Dimensions4 1/16 in. (10.3 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.59.40.1
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Murphy Room
On view

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Department
Bayou Bend
Description

Tumblers made of cow horn were a prevalent part of life in early America. These simple vessels were used to serve beer and other beverages in both homes and taverns. They were made in a variety of forms and sizes, some featuring elaborate engraved decoration or silver mounts. This unadorned tumbler is a more typical form.

Tumblers like this one were made by specialized craftsmen known as horners, or hornbreakers, who also made powder horns, combs, buttons, and a variety of other useful articles. The trade was a longstanding one, with the first reference to a company of horners in London appearing in 1284, though men had been active in the trade much earlier. Horners began working in America during the colonial period. As enduring as the profession was, its tools and methods remained largely unchanged into recent years. Horn softened by boiling could be easily shaped, molded, or die pressed into new forms, and further shaping required only simple shears, tongs, saws, knives, awls, and polishing equipment.


Provenance[Carl and Celia Jacobs, Southwick, Massachusetts]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, May 17, 1959; given to MFAH, by 1966.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Tumbler
c. 1800–1870
Horn, wood
B.59.40.5
Tumbler
c. 1800–1870
Horn and unidentified wood
B.2006.12
Tumbler
c. 1800–1870
Horn and wood
B.59.40.4
Tumbler
c. 1800–1870
Horn, wood
B.59.40.3
Tumbler
c. 1800–1870
Horn, wood
B.59.40.2
Tumbler
c. 1800–1870
Horn, wood
B.59.40.6
Shell Flower Arrangement
mid-19th–late 19th century
Seashells, velvet, unidentified wood, and glass
B.72.132
Snail Shell
no date
Shell
B.79.5