Heavy Metal: The Arrival of English Lead Glass in the Chesapeake
Author(s): Esther Rimer
Year: 2013
Summary
Almost immediately after the perfection of English lead glass in 1676, lead glass appeared on the tables of British colonists, including Chesapeake settlers. The durability and beauty of English lead glass made it a consumer amenity that became a regular sight in upper and middle-class homes and taverns throughout the 18th-century Atlantic World. This paper will compare evidence of lead glass found at pre-1700 and early 18th-century plantations between Maryland and the James River to assess regional differences in trade and tableware consumption. Tracing the presence of lead glass and its early appearances in the colonies informs us about patterns of regional availability and use in colonial society just before glass tableware, like many other material things, became more widely available.
Cite this Record
Heavy Metal: The Arrival of English Lead Glass in the Chesapeake. Esther Rimer. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428434)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
Atlantic World
•
Consumption
•
Glass
Geographic Keywords
North America
•
United States of America
Temporal Keywords
1675-1740
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 648