“I was taking pics and this came down and landed in the bowl…”

RICK CIRALLI

Posting some refreshingly different utilitarian bowls in a variety of autumn colors. Kudos to Rick Ciralli, his passion for glass and for sharing these wonderful photographs of bowls that my wife likes so much. Well done Rick!

Read More: Some Early American Glass Bowls

“I think these bottle glass bowls, mostly blown in rural areas, were used by the local population of farmers and small merchants. I think the wealthy in cities and coastal regions were using flint glass and fine ceramics. Maybe a member of this page with a broader experience in antiques could comment.”

WOODY DOUGLAS

“I think Woody Douglas is on the right track with this. With all the privy digging going on finding shards of these bowls in an urban setting is a rare occurance. I have dug five domestic refuse dumps of glassblowers houses at Mt Pleasant and finding bowl shards is a common occurance. I feel these items were not highly valued outside of their community as they are not a decorative item, thus unsaleable to the general populace. This confined their use to the workers and families at a glassworks and their adjacent community. This would explain their rarity.”

RICHARD STRUNK