Amber bottle with chain

[mole3]

WHAT A GREAT BOTTLE! I agree with Woody. 1840's Mexican/american Don't let that one go cheap! Wayne

 

[Bottle tumbler]

But does the chain have the age your talking about? Not to sure about this one. I had one like this one, but no chain, same pontil, it looks mex to me.
it is a holy water bottle.
but the age of the chain is the key to it's age. many repros were done in the ealry years,


rick

 

[Pettydigger]

I guess I agree with Bottletumbler, that chain looks alot newer than mid 1800's. The glass looks very old from the pics though, the pontil mark is kinda unusual looking to me also but I am far from an expert on that era of glass[]Is the glass dark amber held up to a light, it looks like it has a reddish color to it on my computer, regardless of what it is or how old it is...........that is a cool bottle[]

Pettydigger

 

[BARQS19]

Maybe a cocaine addict had it to put around his neck and anytime he craved some he just took this little thing out and snorted it. He probably lost it on a binge one day until it was found. Can anyone think of any medicine that you would desperately need that you would have to put it around your neck?
Robert

 

[KentOhio]

Yours looks dark red. I saw a light blue one, same style and white stuff, no stopper or chain, sell on ebay last year. I tried to buy it... thought it was ancient Roman, lol. I remember it went for about $100, but then the buyer might have thought it was Roman too.

 

[David E]

How about the bolttle being old (maybe did not have a chain) and was added later or an old rusty chain was replaced.
Dave

 

[bearswede]

Oh now let me think... Who was it that said Spanish? Someone did... Who was that?

 

[whitebeaches304]

Wow, thanks so much for asking Mike Polak about this. If I decide to put this on ebay, would it be okay to quote from his response?

 

[whitebeaches304]

You are just too smart. Guess we should have listened to you to begin with!

 

[whitebeaches304]

Do you think the chain was so it could be worn while traveling outside the church area or for convenience/safe keeping if used during battle to give last rights? It would seem to be made the length to be worn around the neck and since it does not have a clasp it must have been intended to stay on the bottle. Just some thoughts. I'm always open to opinions. Thanks.

Here's an update on this bottle. It was sent to me by my friend and your's Michael Polak. His price listing in his books are a bit suspect but this is his opinion on the bottle;

Rich,

Sorry that I haven't answered you sooner but I've been in the middle of updating the bottle book to the 5th Edition and then a bunch of business travel-now I'm playing e-mail catch-up. This bottle is really interesting. I've seen these types of bottles before in Europe, specifically Spain, and your guesss was a good one. They were used by the church for holy water but also by the military as a first-aid water/medicine bottle. If you take a look at the chain, you'll notice that the design is a heavy Spanish style. I'm not sure why the bottle had the chain except to keep it from being taken since it was the property of the church or the government. I would guess the time frame would be even late 1700's to early 1800's. Value is tough but since it appears to be in good condition, I would estimate $1-2K.

Good Bottle Hunting,

Mike.