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the power to seal a deal between using wooden barrels and large pottery urns
adversaries by adding meaning to that were stored in the cellars where light and
negotiations made over feasts and moving air were not an issue when it came to
momentous events as they clinked preserving its taste and quality. Those who
glasses and adding sound to the could not afford to purchase wine in bulk
signs of peace. instead filled their own containers at local
On display at CMoG is a rare wine shops or taverns, similar to the way we
fragment of cameo glass made fill growlers at breweries today.
sometime between 25 BCE to 50 By the early 1800s, wineries themselves
CE from the Mediterranean, began to store and ship their product in glass
probably Italy. This piece of glass bottles, with paper labels with information
was either cast or blown from two about the winery and vintage replacing the
layers of glass, and the white glass stamps with names of individuals and taverns
was partially carved away to create “Fiasco” Flask with who used the bottle. The introduction of a
Cameo Glass Fragment with Grape Basketry Cover,
Harvest, 25 BCE-99 CE (Italy) a detailed scene. The image on the three-part molded bottle in the 1820s
glass is of a worker carrying a 1600-1700 (Italy) solidified the standard cylindrical shape
Courtesy of Corning Museum of Glass
harvest of grapes. The fragment is Courtesy of Corning of the wine bottle which is still recognizable
Museum of Glass
just 1.75” wide by 2” high. The 200 years later.
vessel it came from is estimated to be 4.75” overall. The artistry is
intricate and realistic. This is just a glimpse of the artistic inspiration Making Wine Portable
that arose from the process of making wine.
In the early 1600s in England, glass
was becoming a more common material
to conduct those purchases. As John
Worlidge pointed out in his treatise on
glass bottles in 1676, glass was stronger,
less apt to leak, less likely to taint
the contents than ceramic jugs. Glass
was also transparent, and so easier to
monitor the contents and determine if
the vessel was clean.

“Glass bottles are preferred to
stoneware bottles because stone bottles are
apt to leak, and are rough in the mouth,
that they are not easily uncorked; also they
are more apt to taint than the other; Figure of Bacchus on a Barrel,
neither are they transparent, that you may Possibly by Bernard Perrot
discern when they are foul, or clean.” (1638-1709), about 1700
– John Worlidge, 1676 Courtesy of Corning Museum of Glass

Mold-Blown Pitcher, 300–500 Oinochoe with Trefoil-Shaped Mouth, The robust British glass wine bottle of which Worlidge spoke was
(Possibly the Eastern 500–400 BCE (Rhodes, Greece) helped along by a quirk of glass history: early in the 1600s, King James I
Mediterranean, Ancient Roman Courtesy of Corning Museum of Glass of England forbid glasshouses to use wood-fired furnaces in glassmaking.
Empire) Courtesy of Corning Museum of Glass
Glass houses switched to coal as a fuel source. Because coal burns hotter
than wood, glassmakers could increase the ratio of silica to sodium in
the glass batch, resulting in a stiffer, stronger glass. Coal furnaces are
Storing Wine also reducing environments, which has the effect of deepening the
Over the centuries, winemakers studied the many components used green color of the iron in the glass. Stronger, thicker, and darker glass
in making wine. Refining the type of grape through breeding for the than what had been available previously contributed to a bottle that was
best flavor, most output, ability to sustain over time. Grapes were more conducive to long-term storage of wine.
grown all over the world but how weather, temperature, light, soil
content, and accessibility to the market all played a role in the varieties Serving Wine at Home
of wine developed over time. With the immense attention given to the
creation of wine, storing it was another issue altogether. Back before the wine bottle was an
Storage of wine was critical from its invention. Prior to the 1800s, everyday convenience used to purchase
wine was kept in large ceramic containers or wooden casks. It was a race and store wine, those hefty wooden barrels
against time to get the wine in the cellar made it difficult to bring wine
from the producer to the to the serving area without having to bring
consumer before it spoiled due the entire cask into the household. Some
to oxidation. The more affluent homeowners would install pipes from the
were able to buy wine in bulk basement to the dining area to dispense
wine into crocks or other serving pieces.
But the experience of serving wine was
From left to right: Wine Bottle with brought up a level in the mid-1700s by the
Seal “R.A/S,” 1650–1660 use of Wine Urns – much like the metal
(England); Wine Bottle with Seal samovar but made of glass with a spigot for
“H. Gaige 1712,” 1712 (England); serving. Such a convenience was yet another
Wine Bottle with Inscription showcase piece to reflect the owner’s
“PATENT” H. Ricketts & Co.,
Glass Works, 1821–1835; Wine “Cantir” Drinking Flask, wealth and strong sense of style.
Bottle with Seal “LAFITE/1887,” 1700–1800 (Catalonia, CMoG has a beautiful lead glass
about 1887 (France) Spain) Courtesy of Corning accented with pewter Covered Wine Urn
Museum of Glass
Courtesy of Corning Museum of Glass
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