Case bottle

Status

Not on view

Label Text

This glass decanter is likely part of a thirteen-bottle set George Washington used to store his personal supply of liquors during the Revolutionary War. Its double walled body served the practical purpose of protecting the bottles from breakage during travel, while the wheel-engraved decoration speaks to the decanter's use as an object for entertaining.

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Date1780-1800

Geography Made - Bohemia

Medium/TechniqueGlass

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 9 3/8 in. x 4 3/8 in. x 2 7/8 in. (23.81 cm x 11.11 cm x 7.3 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, 1950

Object numberW-1591/B

DescriptionColorless glass case bottle; half-post dip-molded rectangular body with rounded corners, horizontal shoulders, and an unground, double gathered cylindrical neck terminating in a rounded trail string rim; wheel engraved decoration on the shoulders, face, rear, and sides of the bottle: series of dots along the shoulders with a circular flower, stem, leaves, and a series of circular drops at each corner; left-facing tulip with lobed leaves and three lily of the valley flower buds on the face and rear; a sprig of three lily of the valley flower buds and leaves on the sides; unground pontil mark on base.
Published ReferencesBenson J. Lossing, The Home of Washington; or Mount Vernon and its Associations, Historical, and Pictoral (New York, New York: Virtue & Yorston, 1871), 360-361.

Benson John Lossing, Mount Vernon and its Associations: Historical, Biographical, and Pictoral (New York, New York: W. A. Townsend, 1859), 346-347.

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