Name/TitleNested horn vessels
About this objectSet of nested horn beakers (4) and lidded containers (2) belonging to Agnes Reston nee Harkness (1771-1856) aka the Heroine of Matagorda. Her descendants believe these items, which may be medical measuring cups but could also have been produced for recreational purposes such as picnicking, were likely to have been used during Agnes’s time as a sick nurse in The Town's Hospital, Glasgow.
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsOrganic, horn
MeasurementsH: 210 mm
Subject and Association KeywordsNursing
Subject and Association Keywordswar & conflict
Subject and Association KeywordsHospitals
Subject and Association DescriptionAgnes Reston (nee Harkness, 1771 – 24 December 1856) was a Scottish wartime nurse during the Peninsular War. She has become known as the Heroine of Matagorda, for her outstanding bravery in an early phase of the Siege of Cádiz. By 1844, the widowed Mrs Reston had been reduced to pauperism, and was an inmate in the Town's Hospital in Glasgow, having recently moved with other inmates from the old lunatic asylum. She was by now 72 years old, and gained a livelihood as a sick nurse. Mrs Reston died on Christmas Eve, 1856, at the age of 85, after being confined to bed for eight weeks, and was buried in Glasgow's Southern Necropolis. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Reston)
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypeContainer
Object numberGWL-2022-32
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved