Bottle, 1680–1700
Cologne, Germany
Salt-glazed stoneware
Chipstone Foundation 1964.2

Beginning in the sixteenth century stoneware bottles like number 61 were made in huge numbers and used to ship wine and other liquors worldwide. Made in all the major European countries, versions survive in abundance in museum collections. Example number 60, however, is a one-of-a-kind. It was made in Japan out of high-fi red porcelain. Clumsy casting marks suggest that the potter made a mold from another bottle and then pieced the parts together before fi ring. Because no other bottles like this exist, it appears to have been a failed experiment.