Vessels of Grief in Ancient Rome and Tear Bottles in the Victorian Era

In Ancient Rome, the tears of hired mourners were collected in vessels of grief, and the filled vessels were carried to the tomb as a kind of tribute to the deceased. The Victorian era, too, had its fashion for gathering tears: grieving women used special tear bottles, small flasks that could be carried about one's person. The collected tears were poured out over the grave of the departed. Sometimes the filled flasks were left open, and one waited for the tears to evaporate, which signified that mourning might now be brought to an end. Some Victorian ladies collected tears as the women of ancient Persia did, as a token of bitter waiting for a husband away on a military campaign.

More about the strange contrivances of the past in my selection for Theories and Practices: https://theoryandpractice.ru/posts/15991-lovushka-dlya-blokh-sleznitsa-i-ozhivlyayushchaya-klizma-7-gadzhetov-proshlogo

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Vessels of Grief in Ancient Rome and Tear Bottles in the Victorian Era

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