When researching Victorian mourning practices, I noticed a photograph of gorgeous little glass bottles labeled “tear catchers.” The accompanying data stated they have been so named as a result of grieving ladies would weep into them.
Because the Victorians elevated mourning to an artwork kind, I readily believed it and was captivated by the thought that the bottles have been used to seize sorrow.
However after I delved additional, I discovered that the story behind them is only a fable. I can’t bear in mind a time when one thing within the antiques and collectibles world disillusioned me greater than that information.
I’m sorry if this debunking disheartens you, too, however really, these hand-blown glass bottles are “throwaway” scent bottles” that held fragrance, not tears, and have been meant to be discarded after ladies transferred their contents into decanters that they had at residence.
Whereas there is no such thing as a concrete proof that they caught tears, what can’t be debunked is the truth that these bottles attraction collectors.
BUSTING THE TEAR-CATCHER MYTH
As a result of the Victorians had elaborate grieving rituals, together with weaving the hair of their deceased family members into jewellery, it’s simple to see why the parable of crying into delicate glass bottles has persevered.
In line with legend, tear catchers, additionally referred to as lachrymatory bottles, have been used to measure grieving time within the nineteenth century in England and in America in the course of the Civil Battle. The mourning interval was over as soon as the tears caught within the bottles evaporated.
It’s a beautiful, sentimental story, however historians and different specialists say there is no such thing as a proof that this ever occurred.
In a 2017 article at Atlas Obscura, fragrance historian Grace Elizabeth Hummel stated the parable doubtless started with early students, who romantically labeled the small glass bottles that archaeologists typically present in Greek and Roman tombs as lachrymatories or tear bottles, however chemical checks carried out by scientists disproved that principle.
Nevertheless, by way of historic accident and false, but profitable, promoting since then, the “tear catcher” time period has caught.
Perfumer and researcher Nuri McBride, who writes about perfume and loss of life rituals at Demise/Scent, stated in a 2021 story that she and her colleagues additionally dispute this fable.
“These bottles are offered generally as Victorian or Civil Battle tear catchers, used to carry the tears of misplaced love from a bygone and nostalgic age. I’m sorry to say these will not be romantic mourning keepsakes. These are throwaway bottles aka, disposable fragrance bottles. They’re the empty Lip Smacker tubes of the nineteenth century,” McBride stated.
She stated she and the twenty colleagues and journalists she has consulted with have by no means discovered any historic supply that claims throwaway bottles functioned as tear catchers or had another sentimental objective.
A 2024 put up on the Sporting Historical past Weblog additionally stated there have been no references to tear-catcher bottles in Victorian data at on-line newspaper archives.
McBride stated she discovered the primary connections between Victorian bottles and mourning in a number of books from the Nineties.
This is sensible, contemplating there was an enormous revival of all issues Victorian throughout that decade. Lachrymatories are additionally talked about within the 1996 novel Divine Secrets and techniques of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
So far as the story that has unfold on the web for many years, McBride stated that whereas she will be able to’t definitively show it originated from the web site, Lachrymatory.com, data offered there since 2002 has had an impression.
As soon as an excellent story positive aspects momentum on the web, it takes on a lifetime of its personal with the assistance of people that need to consider it’s true.
As Christian Harding, one-time proprietor of The Belfry oddities retailer in Seattle, Washington, informed Atlas Obscura, even when he defined the right use of those ornamental bottles to collectors, many didn’t need to settle for it, and others simply didn’t care.
Even McBride conceded that there’s a chance a Victorian lady someplace might need tried capturing her tears in a bottle, however that doesn’t make it a normal customized.
TEARS OR NOT, THE BOTTLES ARE HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE
Regardless of being inaccurate, “Victorian tear catcher” and “lachrymatory bottle” are generally accepted phrases within the amassing neighborhood for throwaway scent bottles, as not everyone seems to be conscious of the misunderstanding. When wanting by way of WorthPoint’s Value Information, much more listings come up underneath these two search phrases than “throwaway scent bottle.”
To additional confuse issues, “laydown” fragrance bottles, additionally prized collectibles, are sometimes interchanged with throwaways. However laydowns are bigger, typically manufactured from minimize glass or crystal, are of upper high quality, and produce larger costs, particularly examples made by well-known firms. Additionally they have silver-plated caps, often screw-on, that seal tightly. They’re referred to as laydowns as a result of they have been meant to be displayed on a conceit, and don’t have a flat backside to face upright.
Hand-blown throwaway bottles, also referred to as attar bottles and Oxford lavenders, are 5 to eight inches lengthy and usually have flat bottoms and glass stoppers that always match poorly. They have been principally produced in Bohemia and England starting within the late 18th century, after perfumes grew to become available to everybody, not simply the rich. Most surviving examples are from the 1850s to 1910.
Chemists and perfumers used them to dole out samples, and since they have been cheaply made for the plenty, they have been usually tossed as soon as a girl emptied the fragrance pattern right into a fancier decanter.
Given how stunning and elaborately embellished a few of these bottles are, it’s onerous to consider they have been handled like rubbish. Fortunately for collectors, many have survived and might be discovered in several colours and designs.
Generally manufactured from clear glass, throwaway bottles have been additionally made in amber, cobalt blue, inexperienced, and different colours. Some bottles are additionally embellished with vivid enamels or wealthy gilding and may have numerous hand-painted designs.
In line with costs recorded in WorthPoint’s database, bottles have bought over the past a number of years between $10 for a transparent instance with gold flashing to a hair underneath $2,000 for an on the spot assortment of 43; most have bought within the $50 to $100 vary.
Not surprisingly, the extra elaborately designed bottles with enamel decorations and painted by hand gildings are probably the most useful, as are items made in coloured glass. These bottles have been doubtless handed out by high-end perfumers and different retailers and in addition produced by well-known glassworks, like Moser Glass, which is understood for its high quality items which are favorites with collectors. This Moser blue bottle with an enameled floral ornament bought for $350 in 2024.
Whether or not you need to consider the story behind Victorian tear catchers is reality or fiction is as much as you. However whichever facet you are taking, one factor is for certain: These bottles are endearing little collectibles with fascinating folklore.
Adina Okay. Francis has been a author and editor within the antiques and collectibles discipline for greater than twenty years. She has a little bit of an obsession with the Victorians and thinks that canine are one in every of life’s biggest presents.
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