1763-1860

Smelling Bottle or "Pungent"

The main purpose of smelling bottles, or pungents, was to mask unpleasant odors, and thus they usually held smelling salts. They were first stoppered by corks and eventually by screw caps. The capacity of these bottles ranges from fractions of a dram to a little over an ounce. Decorative details include quilling (as side trim), embedded spirals, and occasionally engraving.