Matrass Flask
- Description
- This flask, made of green glass, is properly called a "matrass." Part of a distillation apparatus, a matrass is a vessel with a round bottom and a long slender neck. It is used with a head and a receiver, the two other pieces needed for the distillation process. Joseph Priestley used this 18th-century matrass in his Northumberland, Pa., laboratory.
- Priestley, the noted chemist whose accomplishments include the discovery of oxygen, was born in England. He lived and worked in Birmingham for many years, but his views as a Dissenter and an advocate of the French Revolution incited an angry mob into burning down his house and laboratory. In 1794 he fled to America, eventually settling in Northumberland, near Philadelphia. His great-great-granddaughter, Frances Priestley, donated his surviving laboratory ware to the Smithsonian in 1883.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- flask
- Date made
- 18th century
- used by
- Priestley, Joseph
- Physical Description
- glass (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 11 1/2 in x 4 in; 29.21 cm x 10.16 cm
- ID Number
- CH*315355.19
- accession number
- 13305
- catalog number
- 315355.19
- subject
- Science & Mathematics
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Chemistry
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- Credit Line
- Gift of Miss Frances D. Priestley
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