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Description
You have found the missing piece to your Art Glass Collection! Here is a Antique Cobalt Blue Tear Catcher.
A Tear Catcher, also called a Tear Bottle is typically an ornamental vase piece, made from blown glass and dyed appropriately to the creator's taste. There is an attached glass fixture at the opening of the stem that is formed to your eye. In ancient Persia, when a sultan returned from battle, he checked his wives’ tear catchers to see who among them had wept in his absence and missed him the most. Sprinklers of similar form are in the corning Museum of Glass, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum and Copenhagen's David Collection. There is some debate as to the purpose of these vessels. The V&A remarks that “It has been romantically and completely falsely suggested that such flasks were used by the Sultan’s lonely concubines in the Harem to collect their tears; the shape is probably intended for sprinkling rosewater or similar perfumes onto the hands.” Another version of the story is that the flasks are tear catchers used at funerals by widows to collect their tears, and then buried with the body of the husband. The V&A says that such flasks often are dated to the 16th and 17th centuries but that there is “no evidence” that they were made before the 19th century.
The catcher is 10 3/4" high, and in excellent preowned condition, no chips or cracks (see Pictures). Please see our Not Just China Store for more Art Glass & Collectibles.
We try to ship within 24 hours of receiving payment. If you have questions or you feel there is a problem, please e-mail us. We will normally get back to you within 24 hours.
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Most of our items are sold as collectibles. We find them at Central Florida antique shows, auctions and estate sales. Antique or vintage items may, by nature have flaws and imperfections due to age. While we are not experts on this merchandise, we do our best to describe them as accurately as possible through pictures and descriptions. We do this as a hobby and strive to make our customers happy. If you are dissatisfied in any way with your purchase, please contact us
