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Musk bottle

Musk bottle
Glass, musk powder, paper, silk
1770-1790
Musk bottle
Musk bottle
Glass, musk powder, paper, silk
1770-1790
Musk bottle Glass, musk powder, paper, silk 1770-1790
Status
Not on view
Label Text

Descendants of Mrs. Washington's niece, Mary Dandridge Willison, carefully preserved this tiny bottle and its powdered contents, labeling it "musk [that] Gen. Washington carried in his pocket all through the Revolutionar[y] [W]ar." Musk, a glandular secretion obtained from the musk deer of Asia, was a precious commodity in the eighteenth century, used in perfumes and cosmetics as well as medicines.

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Date1770-1790
Geography Possibly made - EnglandPossibly made - United States
DimensionsOverall: 1 3/4 in. x 1 in. x 1 in. (4.45 cm x 2.54 cm x 2.54 cm)
Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Bowers Hill, Katherine Bowers Beeson, and Robert Lloyd Bowers, 1989
Object numberW-3295
DescriptionSmall, blue-green, blown glass bottle with slightly tapered sides and cylindrical neck; pontil mark on slightly indented base; mouth is covered with a piece of paper secured around the neck with string and a narrow, off-white, silk ribbon; bottle contains a dry, dark particulate substance believed to be musk.
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