Decanter

Date1780-1800

MediumLead Glass

DimensionsOH: 17 15/16"; H (without stopper): 14 5/8"; O. Diam: 8 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1951-157,A&B

DescriptionDecanter with stopper: Body A: Prussian shape; wide flanged lip, ground inside; shortened tapered neck decorated with three applied triangular rings; sloping shoulders taper to straight sides; concave polished bottom with polished pontil mark. Engraved decoration: on one side of shoulder is shield 4" high with outline enclosing initial "S" in script on frosted ground. Stopper B: flat disk with scallops on ground plug.
Label TextAbout one gallon capacity. Shouldered decanters with widest diameter at base are a style common to the third quarter of the eighteenth century, but most have no flange or rings. The wide flange and rings appear on examples with down-tapered bodies dating from the late eighteenth century up to ca. 1820. This decanter would seem to date ca. 1800, perhaps closer to 1790.
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceCame from the Stratton and Upshur families, who lived at "Elkington" on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, to the last previous owner, Mrs. K. A. Jarvis, of Eastville, Virginia. According to family tradition this decanter and the matching flip glass (1951-156) were owned by Anne Gertrude (Stratton) Parker (1795-1889). The period of these pieces together with their initials "S" makes it very likely that they were first owned by her mother, Lucy (Diggs) Stratton (1772-1848). The items may have descended through Mrs. Anne Parker to her daughter, Mrs. Sarah (Parker) Upshur, and to Judge Henry L. Upshur, father of Mrs. K. A. Jarvis. (Ref. to correspondence Mrs. Jarvis to J. M. G. 29 March 1951).