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ITEM Identifier: Dickinson Room

Tumbler; diamond diaper taper, colorless, blown molded in 3-part mold of geometric design: bands of vertical flutes above horizontal rings and diamond diapering, horizontal ring above vertical flutes around base; pontil mark. New England, probably Boston and Sandwich Glass Company; circa 1825-1835., 1825-1835. Digital

Tumbler; diamond diaper taper, colorless, blown molded in 3-part mold of geometric design: bands of vertical flutes above horizontal rings and diamond diapering, horizontal ring above vertical flutes around base; pontil mark. New England, probably Boston and Sandwich Glass Company; circa 1825-1835. Digital Object
Tumbler; diamond diaper taper, colorless, blown molded in 3-part mold of geometric design: bands of vertical flutes above horizontal rings and diamond diapering, horizontal ring above vertical flutes around base; pontil mark. New England, probably Boston and Sandwich Glass Company; circa 1825-1835. Digital Object

Dates

  • Creation: 1825-1835.

Conditions Governing Access

The Dickinson Room and many of these objects can be viewed by guided tour Fridays at 2:00 p.m.

Examination of objects in the Houghton Reading Room requires advance notice, and the permission of the curator.

Extent

20 linear feet (68 items)

Physical Facet

Colorless flint glass;

Dimensions

height 14.6 cm., diameter 12.0 cm.

General note

According to family history, this drinking vessel belonged to Emily Dickinson's grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson. Collectors sometimes call tumblers of this size and shape "flip" (a beer and rum concoction) glasses, though period records consistently use the term "tumbler" for this type of drinking vessel regardless of capacity or intended use. Tumblers were among the most common glass drinking vessels in early America and were used for a variety of beverages including beer, cider, and ale.

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440