Images(2)

Nipple Shield

Dateca. 1780

OriginEngland

MediumColorless lead glass

DimensionsOH: 1 1/8"
OD: 3"

Credit LineGift of Mr. John M. Graham II

Object number1950-378

DescriptionNipple shield or nipple glass: Domed double-walled with hollow interior; circular glass container with a hole on the flat side which allows the nipple to stick into the container. A small notch in the glass on one side prevents too much suction when the glass is in place. Worn under the woman's clothes to catch excess breast milk. There is a pontil mark on its domed top.Label TextThis apparatus was used to collect milk from nursing mothers, to be given later to infants. Eighteenth-and early nineteenth- century sales records also list "Bosom bottles" and "Nipple Shells," which had similar uses.Mark(s)NoneProvenanceGift: Mr. John M. Graham II, Williamsburg, Virginia