What do a famous French general, a Cape Cod steamboat, and a dinner table have in common?

This charming little pressed glass steamboat!

Made by the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company between about 1830 and 1845, this open salt is one of the most unusual pieces the factory ever produced. It's the only known Boston & Sandwich pattern that was marked with the company's name, molded into the stern as "B. & S. Glass Co." The paddle box is marked "LAFAYET."

Why? No one knows for certain.

One possibility is that these little boats were early promotional giveaways. Because so many examples survive, some glass historians believe they may have been distributed at fairs, trade shows, parades, or other public events rather than sold in stores. Some may even have been filled with candy or taffy before being handed out.

The name "Lafayet" may refer to the steamboat Lafayette, which carried passengers between Boston and Plymouth beginning in 1828. During the busy summer months, it made multiple trips each week, carrying travelers and freight across Massachusetts Bay. Newspaper advertisements documented regular departures from Long Wharf in Boston and Plymouth's Steam-boat Wharf, making the Lafayette a familiar sight to thousands of New Englanders.

Glass historians Raymond Barlow and Joan Kaiser suggested that the glass boats may have been made as mementos honoring the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution. After his death in 1834, Boston held an enormous public memorial attended by an estimated 200,000 people. While no documentation has surfaced to prove the connection, it's a fascinating possibility.

Whether they celebrated a steamship, honored a Revolutionary War hero, or simply advertised the Sandwich Glass Company, these little boats are one of the factory's most imaginative and puzzling, creations.