Goblet
Maker: Excelsior Glass Company (Canadian, c. 1879-1883)
Medium:Pressed glass
Geography: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Date: c. 1880
Dimensions:14.3 (height) x 7.0 (outside diameter) cm
Object number: 981.43.471
Credit Line: The John & Mary Yaremko Collection of Canadian Glass
DescriptionIn 1880, goblets with this “beaver and maple leaf” pattern were made in great quantity by the Excelsior Co. in conjunction with the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français. It was a gathering of French Canadians from all over North America, organized in Quebec City by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Here the anthem, “O Canada,” with musical score by Calixa Lavallée and lyrics by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, was performed for the first time as a French-Canadian national anthem. Within several decades the country as a whole accepted it as Canada’s national anthem.