This vintage glass display stands 9" tall with a 3 ¾” square base. The display is a miniature depiction of the shot tower and is made of leaded glass. It is full of graduated shot ranging from 00 at the base to 13 at the top. A paper label on the inside of the tower portion (now well faded) once clearly listed the sizes of the different shot represented.

Two sides of the base are cast with "COLLIER / SHOT TOWER COMPANY / ST. LOUIS". The inside of the base was painted gold. Some very minor chipping to corners at base.

The Collier Shot Tower Company operated circa 1820s to 1880s. This antique glass display is possibly a salesman's sample or an advertising piece/desk display that was used to visually demonstrate, to potential customers, the company’s full range and capability.

Shot towers were used to manufacture “drop” shot. In a shot tower, lead is heated until molten, then dropped through a copper sieve at the top of the tower. The liquid lead forms tiny spherical balls by surface tension, and solidifies as it falls. The partially cooled pellets are caught at the floor of the tower in a water-filled basin. The now fully cooled balls are checked for roundness and sorted by size. The maximum size of the shot is limited by the height of the tower, because larger shot sizes must fall farther to solidify.

A very nice example of a drop shot display.  [jet]

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