Mineral Water Bottle
Dateca. 1750
MediumSalt-glazed stoneware
DimensionsOverall: 10 1/2 x 4 3/4in. (26.7 x 12.1cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2013-7
DescriptionSalt-glazed stoneware ovoid-shaped bottle, basal ring at the foot, narrow neck with a single ring at the juncture of the strap handle, cobalt painted letter “P” on shoulder opposite handle, this letter designates the spa source from which the bottle was filled.Label TextBeginning in the eighteenth century, Westerwald potters produced vast quantities of mineral water bottles for shipping the newly fashionable therapeutic beverage. These vessels were one of the few forms made solely to contain a commodity rather than for a range of utilitarian uses. They were present in significant numbers in the American colonies from the mid-eighteenth century onward. Mineral water bottles produced in the Westerwald can be divided into two categories. The earliest forms, like this example, are ovoid in shape and have a basal ring at the foot and a squat, narrow neck with a single ring at the juncture of the strap handle. These vessels are gray and often feature an impressed mark or a cobalt painted letter, frequently a “P,” designating the spa source from which they were to be filled. A shard excavated from the Nelson-Galt Apothecary site in Williamsburg corresponds to an example from the Three Cranes Tavern (BOS-HA-41) in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Both of these circa 1760 bottles are impressed with a mark consisting of a cross flanked by the letters “C” and “T”. The insignia is associated with Niederselter near Trier, Germany, famous for its mineral water. Seltzer bottles from around 1760 bearing variants of this mark have been found at sites from Kilkenny, Ireland, to the Netherlands and Batavia.
ProvenancePurchased from a dealer who found this bottle in the Netherlands.
