Pilgrim bottle 19th century

This pilgrim bottle was created by Christian Wilhelm Fleischman, but its date of manufacture is unknown. The form of the pilgrim bottle itself is not unique. It recalls the many people who traveled the roads of Europe to visit religious shrines. Pilgrimage was a major social and economic phenomenon in the medieval and early modern periods. The souvenirs, often mass-produced, that testified to such journeys formed a large market for artisans. But the question remains, what is the status of this particular bottle? It may be that this piece, made in Germany, is not an authentic relic but a historicizing reproduction intended for a later market. Its decoration simulates a Renaissance style, and the word "pilgrim" came to have secular associations, denoting any kind of travel for edification. To understand its place in social and institutional history, we might research 19th-century German attitudes towards religious heritage and the rise of museums dedicated to folk culture. The meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional context.