One piece semi-transparent dark blue glass eye bath cup (a) shaped to fit the eye; original green paper box that contained the eye bath cup with manufacturing information printed on exterior.
One piece semi-transparent dark blue glass eye bath cup (a) shaped to fit the eye; original green paper box that contained the eye bath cup with manufacturing information printed on exterior.
Stamped on bottom of eye glass: "MADE IN // ENGLAND"; printed on front of box: "JoHN // BULL // eye // bath" printed on the back of the box: "IMPORTED AND // DISTRIBUTED BY // Realmont // Ltd // // ALAN WEBSTER // IMPORTERS // Cowansville Canada // DISTRIBUTORS OF // REALMONT QUALITY // DRUG SUNDRIES"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-A4-6 Box 3 Row A
Width
a - 4.3
b - 4.4
Height
a - 6.7
b - 7.3
Depth
b - 4.2
Diameter
a - 4.2
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
diameter at base
Condition Remarks
minor wear on edges of paper box
Copy Type
original
Reference Types
Documents
Book
eBook
Internet
Reference Comments
Bennion, Elisabeth. Antique Medical Instruments. London: Sotheby Parke Bernet Publications by Philip Wilsons Publications, 1979.
Campbell, Gordon. The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. 2006. Accessed August 18, 2016. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195189483.001.0001/acref-9780195189483
Donor file
Research Facts
Collected by Maryanne Szuck and sister Alice Roeder, a retired nurse. The large collection was made up of invalid feeders, hot water bottles, and urinals.
Initially in the early 19th century, eye bath cups had a small foot and circular basin to rinse solution in the eye. The shape eventually evolved to become wider and better suited for the eye. These eye baths were usually made out of silver and silver gilt. Later, as they became more popular they began to be mass produced out of glass, which was much cheaper to produce than metals by the mid to late 19th century. The glass was clear, but also could be coloured green, orange, and most commonly cobalt blue. The blue colour in this particular case derives from cobalt ore, and has been used since medieval times to colour glass for stained glass, and even dating back to antiquity was used for ceramics.