Artist/Maker: Unknown
Created: 1760-1770
Origin/Purchase: England
Materials: glass
Dimensions: H: 24.8 (9 3/4 in.); D (base): 8.9 (3 1/2 in.)
Location: Monticello Archaeology Lab
Provenance: The Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Accession Number: 1981-92
Historical Notes: This labeled Madeira decanter was excavated from the dry well site of the Monticello kitchen yard in 1981. The dry well, intended to be a cool, dry storage place, was dug in 1770 to a depth of almost nineteen feet. Jefferson's plans for the dependency structures soon changed, however, and the large hole was refilled over the next two years. A number of discarded domestic artifacts dating from the earliest years of Jefferson's habitation on the mountaintop were found in the backfill during archaeological excavation.[1] One of the finest objects unearthed was an English decanter with wheel-engraved cartouche and grapevine motifs dating from the 1760s. Decanters of this type were made with various labels for all types of alcoholic beverages.[2]
Although Jefferson's purchase of this early decanter is unrecorded, he acquired many others in later years. Eight crystal decanters were among the household goods shipped from France in 1790.[3] In 1815 Jefferson listed "4 cut glass decanters" in his list of taxable property.[4] The inventory of Monticello made after his death included "12 decanters 6 of them a little broken."[5]
Jefferson once noted how many glasses of Madeira a cask would yield and which type was the most economical to drink. In 1775 he wrote in his memorandum book:
If a pipe of Madeira yeilds 30 doz. bottles, we drink it at 7. years old for 3/ a bottle, which includes the 7. years interest. Such a bottle holds 15 common wine glasses. ... A pipe of new Madeira will yeild 40. dozen, which brings the price (there being no interest) to 20/ a doz. or 20d the bottle when drank new.[6]
- Text from Stein, Worlds, 340
