Product Description
This Petite Clear Glass Bell Jar protects fragile display pieces, plants, and even show-stopping food presentations. Coveted in the 18th century as individual greenhouses for tender plants, the beautiful glass dome makes an excellent protective cover and adds historical charm, too!
Features
- Clear glass bell jar
- Hand-blown glass
- Protect plants, food, and collectibles with an attractive glass dome
- Measures 7.5"H x 5" Dia.
- Imported
Product Care
Wipe with a damp cloth.
Inspiration
The blown "bell" shaped glass is a tool that would have been used in the gardens of the gentry. Our archaeologists have found fragments of bell jars in various gardens, including the Governor’s Palace and Mr. James Hubbard's garden. Glass was not made in the colonies in the eighteenth century, but was shipped from England and was therefore expensive.
Bell jars appear in an illustration by John Evelyn in 1659. Thought to have originated in sixteenth-century France, they eventually made their way to England. Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Gardeners use bell jars to protect less hardy plants, such as lettuce and parsley, from winter frosts at night. The barrier also helps protect against hungry rabbits, squirrels, and deer. Alternate warmer-weather uses include temporarily covering transplants until they take root and warming the soil where seed has been sown on a hill to encourage germination.
