Due to its fragile nature, few pieces of glass associated with the Washingtons survive. George Washington dealt with this same problem during his presidency. At the end of his second term, he meticulously itemized all public furniture Congress procured for presidential use and all private objects he purchased. The glassware he considered his own, inasmuch as it has "been worn out, broken, stolen and replaced (at private expense) over & over again." The shape of these wineglasses, as well as their wheel-engraved and faceted decoration, suggest Washington purchased them and a matching decanter while he was president in the 1790s.