Topic: Can anybody tell me what this Victorian utensil was used for?

[neil53]

Hi,

I've seen these glasses around before without coming by one myself.  I think it might have been an apothecary piece but I'd like to hear from anybody who knows what it was actually used for.

The glass has an elongated funnel bowl measuring 5.8 cm (2.3 inches) in diameter at the rim.   The bowl is thickened to the base and has a small pouring lip.  It sits on a plain foot with a T shaped gadget mark (and yes, I've seen the dialogue as to whether this is a shear mark or not and am not convinced it is) which measures 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) in width.  The glass itself is 12.5 cm (5 inches) in height.

Best wishes
Neil

[neil53]

Sorry, just to point out that I think it is late Victorian.

[Lustrousstone]

It's just a jug for pouring small quantities of liquid or even powder into a bottle or larger container. Could also be laboratory glassware. These are often seen with graduated scales on the side.

[chopin-liszt]

I would doubt lab glassware - it's not going to be nearly accurate enough. You want a small surface area on top of a volume of liquid being measured to minimise inaccuracies.

But it might be fine for something like pouring a small volume of rennet into milk for cheesemaking. (just as an example)

[agincourt17]

Often used in old chemists shops or pharmacies for mixing together small quanties of previously-measured liquid ingredients in a prescription before mixing to final volume with other ingredients. Poured easily into another measure or bottle, and cheaper to buy than a graduated measure (and also cheaper to replace if broken).

[neil53]

Hi, and thanks for the feedback.  Agincourt's comments seem to make sense and everybody seems to agree that it has some form of pharmaceutical purpose so that's what i'll go with.  Much appreciated.

Neil