Glass Tumbler
Physical Object
1986.008.0702
Nuestra Señora de Atocha (1622)
circa 1620
Four pieces of a well-preserved, smoky-amber glass were found scattered across the wreck of the 1622 galleon Atocha. When joined together, the distinctive fragments formed the major part of a cylindrical, tumbler-type drinking glass. The vessel’s bubble-filled body is covered with fine striations, while the interior is smooth, and the rim has been ground to an even finish. Glass drinking vessels were used in Spain in the 1500s but tended to appear later in the American colonies. This example is the oldest known tumbler in the New World. Height 12.0 cm.