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Wash glass

Professional Photography
Wash glass
Professional Photography
Professional Photography
Status
Not on view
Label Text

Wash glasses were essential parts of any genteel dining service in the second half of the eighteenth century. Placed at regular intervals around the table, and sometimes at each setting, they were filled with water or ice and functioned as tableside basins in which to wash and cool glasses in between courses or wines. George Washington's choice of an opaque "Bristol Blue" glass was as utilitarian as it was elegant, for its masked the bowls' often dirty contents.

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Date1770-1790
Geography Probably made - England
Medium/TechniqueGlass
DimensionsOverall: 3 5/8 in. x 5 1/4 in. x 5 1/4 in. (9.21 cm x 13.34 cm x 13.34 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary Reed Hughes, 1976
Object numberW-2721
DescriptionCobalt blue hand-blown cylindrical bowl with wide mouth, two lips set on opposite sides of the rim and unpolished pontil.
Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 171.

James C. Rees, Treasures from Mount Vernon: George Washington Revealed (Mount Vernon, VA: Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 1999), 94.
Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.
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