Black glass?

[Bhannon]

Hello everyone, are these black glass beers? They have no markings so I was wondering the approx. age. Thanks!

 

[hemihampton]

Hard to tell from the pic, could just be dark amber? LEON.

 

[Bhannon]

Ok thanks! How bout this little guy? Cleaning up a batch trying to ID some that aren’t embossed lol.

 

[embe]

Nice bottles. What do they look like held up to the light?

 

[Bhannon]

Nice bottles. What do they look like held up to the light?

The taller 3 piece has a deep greenish tint, the other 3 piece and shorter one has a smoky brown tint.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Your pieces certainly fall into the category of "Black Glass", as I understand the term. Of course, the glass is not literally 'black', but some darker shade of green or amber, with the purpose of attempting to keep contents fresher, longer, by reducing the amount of sunlight passing through the glass.

A quick search brought up this link, though I'm certain there'd be more info. at sha.org/bottle/

What is Black Glass? | About Black Sea Glass by Soul Shells Sea Glass

The term "Black Glass" is used because without a strong light source, the glass looks black. But where does it come from...Pirates, Romans?

soulshells.com

 

[Bhannon]

Your pieces certainly fall into the category of "Black Glass", as I understand the term. Of course, the glass is not literally 'black', but some darker shade of green or amber, with the purpose of attempting to keep contents fresher, longer, by reducing the amount of sunlight passing through the glass.

A quick search brought up this link, though I'm certain there'd be more info. at sha.org/bottle/

What is Black Glass? | About Black Sea Glass by Soul Shells Sea Glass

The term "Black Glass" is used because without a strong light source, the glass looks black. But where does it come from...Pirates, Romans?

soulshells.com

Great info! Thanks a bunch.

 

[TROG]

Hello everyone, are these black glass beers? They have no markings so I was wondering the approx. age. Thanks!

These bottles all appear to be English made and would date around 1880 -1890 unless pontiled which would make them earlier

 

[Bhannon]

These bottles all appear to be English made and would date around 1880 -1890 unless pontiled which would make them earlier

Really appreciate the info, the beers are not pontiled but the small bottle is.

 

[DavidW]

They are ale or beer bottles and the general "look" was made for a very long time. They were probably made in England BUT some similar bottles were also made by American glasshouses - to imitate the standard look of imported British bottles. They are usually of very dark olive green or olive amber glass, so they look "black" when not held up to the light.

They could date from the 1850s into the 1880s, maybe 1890s. In the book about the bottles found on the Steamboat Bertrand that sank on the Missouri River on April 1, 1865, some of the blackglass bottles that were on board, and that were recovered in an expedition in the late 1960s, look somewhat similar to yours.
There are lots of slight differences in the size, height, and how skinny or fat the ale bottles are.

ALSO, on older bottles, maybe before around 1860, a "sand pontil" may not be very obvious. Sometimes there is a pontil but it is barely noticeable, just a circular dished area in the bottom with a somewhat more "sandpapery" texture.

I will attach 3 pictures from the book "The Bertrand Bottles" by Ronald R. Switzer (1974). he wrote the book with information and pics of some of the glass and pottery bottles recovered from an archeological dig of the site.

So, just to keep in mind that every bottle illustrated on these pages existed when the boat sank in April of 1865, and since it took considerable time for bottles to be made, shipped to the company that bottled their product, then filled, possibly shipped again to another destination. and eventually loaded on the steamboat, my guess is that all the bottles shown are AT LEAST from 1864, or very early 1865, if not older.