any ideas ?

[fsperry]

Hey everybody ! This was included in a box lot from an auction last summer. As you can tell from the picture, it is approx. 8.5" tall, 1.25" square, crude flared lip, hundreds of bubbles, whittle marks and slightly concaved sides. It has the "old glass " feel but I am at a loss as to what it was made/used for. Would it be an example of "end of the day" glassmaking or a novice first attempt ? Thanks for looking.

 

[grdigger35]

I have no idea what it is. It looks like it is twisted slightly. Will it stand upright ?

 

[fsperry]

Hey Digger,
Yeah, it has a slight twist to it and a pontil scar on the bottom too. It can stand upright, barely, but I wouldn't trust it for very long. I still can't think of anything I can compare it to.

 

[Ye Olde Prospector]

Hi fsperry
You mentioned this is a pontill bottle. Check on www.earlyglass.com on the home page there is a larger but similar shaped bottle shown referred to as a phial. The site is in process of major rework I guess rite now. I couldn't get photos to come up tonite but if you enter "phial" into the search function it lists various square bottles with rolled lips pontils etc. I gather they were used for early medical compounds from late 1700's to mid 1800's. Last nite I could get photos to come up. Some of the discriptions under Phial sound similar to your bottle shown here. Worth a try.
Cliff

 

[grdigger35]

Hey fsperry, sounds like you might have something here.

 

[diginit]

Just guessing,
Looks like a test tube to me. Now you need the rack. NICE

 

[fsperry]

Hey Cliff and Dale,

Thanks for the replies ; I have gained a lot of ideas and info because of your help ! I'll keep you posted of any other leads I get. Thanks again.
Fred S. Perry

 

[fsperry]

Hey James,

Didn't see your post untill after my other reply. It DOES resemble a test tube of some sort and I am following that lead too. Thanks !

 

[fsperry]

Here's the pontil scar on the bottom.

Picture cropped - please see Help - Using the Forum ---> Uploading a Picture - Admin

 

[medbottle]

RE: any ideas ? bloom on black glass?

Hi fsperry. I wanted to mention something about the color of your phial. I hope the black glass collectors out there will help me out on this. Your bottle appears to be a black glass piece that is entirely made of what I think is called bloom. This blue-grey color is what happened when the early black glass was contaminated by too much smoke from the fires during manufacturing.(?) Reheating? Somtimes only a portion of the neck or the pontil area gets colored in this manner, and sometimes its seems to be a surface phenomenon. An entire bottle is rare and much sought after. Hope I didn't raise more questions than I answered. How about it black glass collectors...am I headed in the right direction with this? I'm scrapin' the bottom of the brain for this data, and its kinda mushy down there.[]