Flask

Art Historical Context

This delicate glass flask, created by an unknown artist between 1860 1875, measures 7½ inches (19.1 cm) in height and belongs to the Institute of Chicago's Arts the Americas department. Classified as a bottle, it represents the everyday elegance of mid-19th glassware from the Americas, where such portable vessels were indispensable for travelers, workers, and social occasions. Crafted from glass—a medium prized for its transparency, durability, and moldability—the flask showcases the era's glassblowing techniques. Artisans heated molten glass over furnaces, shaping it by blowing air through a...