I think that is what is called a paddle mold gin, they used wooden paddles to shape up the sides, as the blown gather cooled before putting on the top, thus no mold lines, or at least if there were any they were erased. Red Mathews knows of this procedure.........
Hello D you have an early gin bottle, yes it is free blown!! a refired pontil free blown.For $1 it's a steal. You can make money with that.=) Good for you.
Thanks again for the replies. I was wondering if someone can give me an approximate value on this bottle. This way if I decide to sell I'll have a better idea of what I should ask for it. Thanks,Anthony
Well assuming there is no chip no crack, I'll appraise it about $50-$100. But if you listed with $0.99 starting bid most likely it will sold around $20-$50.
The tapered shape to me indicates a 'dip' mold, so there would be no seams visible on the shoulders. The values listed seem abit high to me but who knows on any given day. I'd atleast start it at 3.99 (as with anything) so you can break even in the event only one bid is received. Shipping costs kill these type bottles value online. As cannibal said, I have also dug these in 1880-1900 context...maybe they were 'late throws' but I lean more to an over-seas origin where these techniques were still being used apparently into the early 20th century. It is a nice looking bottle and even 'non-bottle' people use them for decorating. Al