The closest thing as far as wood being used would be a block with a hemispherical cutout that was wet and used to give the rotated parison a uniform globular shape, normally used in freeblown objects. Still see them used today. Not sure what they're called though.
I don't subscribe to either, refired or fire polished in regards to pontil scars. To me they are one in the same, fallacious and totally unrealistic in the commercial production of utilitarian bottles. Something as thin as a sheared lip can be fire polished if seen as necessary to eliminate a...
That and the inevitable impurities in the iron used on the end of the pontil rod. You see some odd colors once in a while. I've never been a fan of the theory that some iron pontil marks were painted. I can't see any commercial glasshouse taking the time to paint the bottom of a soda bottle...
The HF&B is definitely the prize of the bunch, a beautiful whiskey. All I've seen are puce or claret in color and usually bring in the neighborhood of the prices being mentioned, depending of course on the condition. I don't know if I've ever seen a perfectly mint example. Yours sure looks...
There and around the shoulder, so it was blown in a 3-piece mold. I agree with Canadian that it dates to the late 19th century. The "pearl" look is probably faint iridescent staining from long exposure to moisture in the basement through the years. I'm leaning toward apothecary or toiletry...
Ain't loaded, but it does give up a goodie once in a blue moon, just enough to keep me going back for 45 years. Hope springs eternal! I'll see about coming up with a group picture of some of the better finds when I get a chance. Thanks for the comments.