Antique Victorian Laydown Perfume Bottle

These little handblown bottles were popular for scent samples throughout the 19th & very early 20th centuries. This is the style of bottle that erroneously became known as a “tear catcher” or lachrymatory bottle. There is a modern myth that widows would collect their tears in the bottle and empty them on a grave, or that when the liquid evaporated their mourning period was over. There is no shortage of primary source evidence on Victorian mourning customs but unfortunately there’s no evidence at all suggesting that such bottles existed. Perfume collectors usually call these “throwaway” bottles, because you were supposed to move your perfume to a fancier bottle and then chuck the these. They tickle the same part of my brain as fancy glass candy boxes: It’s amazing that something so fragile survives, particularly something meant to be kept only briefly then thrown away. This particular bottle has an unusual flat shape, gilding on all sides, and also retains its original stopper. The