Glass Figural Head of Virgin Mary, Two Museum Sources, One Says It’s a Match Safe, buy Other Says Holy Water Fount, Antique,

There are two sources for this one:

West Virginia Museum of Glass: They identify this as a product of Enterprise Glass Company Jenny Lind match safe. They say buy the one they have, which is identical, has a patent date of June 13, 1876. There source is Victorian Glass Novelties, page 115 (Sanford).

Muse Heritage Museum, Canada: They identify this as a “Home Stoup” or Holy Water font. They were often at the entrance at a church or home for people to dip their fingers in. They say this tradition was popular in the 17th and 18th century in Europe and then came to the US.

There are some chips along the bottom on the backside. This figural is 4 5/8 inches long, 2.75 inches wide and 1 7/8 inches deep.

What an interesting collectible!