flint glass specimen jar that belonged to Louis Agassiz
Date: 1864-1866
Inventory Number: 1997-1-1902
Classification: Glassware
Dimensions:24.7 x 11 cm (9 3/4 x 4 5/16 in.)
Accessories: certificate of authenticity (in instrument's file), newspaper article from the North Shore Weeklies, May 1, 1980 (kept inside jar). There is also an empty sticker inside the jar.
Bibliography:The Agassiz Jar Collection. Bicentennial Edition
Louis Agassiz and the History of the Jar Collection
Louis Agassiz and the History of the Collection. Commemoriative Edition
Description:
A large, cylindrical jar made of very clear class, with a wide mouth that is closed by a perfectly fitting glass lid with a rectangular handle.
Signedunsigned
Inscribedon sticker on cap: MM / 637
on orange sticker on jar: DAVID WHEATLAND
on round sticker: 26.00 [its price]
FunctionThis was jar used for keeping museum specimens. It was made of (then very expensive) flint glass so that it would not have the bluish color present in other types of glass, and its stopper seals the jar completely.
Historical AttributesThis is one of a series of five jars in the Collection that used to belong to Louis Agassiz. It was part of a very large set of specimen jars used at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University that he founded. Specimens were kept in these jars until the 1970s. According to the newspaper article kept in the jar, Agassiz invested a considerable fortune on these jars.
ProvenanceThe five specimen jars that belonged to Louis Agassiz remained in use at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, until they were sold off starting in 1976 by University Antiquaries Inc. They were acquired from them by David Wheatland in 1980.