Bottle collecting for over 50 years and cannot ID this one

[CHOODOT43]

Good morning and thank y'all for having me along. I have had this bottle for over 15 years and still can't find one like it. It has a flat concaved bottom that is the size of a nickel. It expands up just over an inch where the second part builds to the lip. There is a seam on one side that starts at the bottom and then disappears. Another seam on the other side begins at the bottom of the top section and ends at the lip which has a seam running around it. It is clear glass with a turquoise fluid inside (Ink?). The top section has an extra swirl blob of glass just below the lip and it has small bubbles here and there. It is thick and heavy. Just under 3 inches tall and 3 inches in diameter at its widest. Anyone? Thanx!! Rob=Bob

 

[embe]

Does it upright itself if tipped over?

 

[CHOODOT43]

Hi there! Completely tipped over, no. Partially, yes. Thanx!

 

[Digswithstick]

Ink well , possibly had separate base for it, maybe wood , traveling ink case?
Door knob shaped too? : )

 

[CHOODOT43]

Good morning! I lean in that direction, but the opening is only .25 inches in diameter which means only skinny pens could enter the bottle. Most inkwells have larger openings. There isn't any sign that there was a lid attached and there is a cork in the opening. Thanx!

 

[shotdwn]

To me it looks like it could be a perfume bottle. The cork looks like someone just stuck it in there and doesn’t really belong in the bottle.

 

[Mudbug]

Could it be a candlestick holder, but you say the opening is 1/4”, so, uhm, skinny candles?! LOL
Strange piece you have there‍. Thanks for the viewing.

 

[willong]

Good morning! I lean in that direction, but the opening is only .25 inches in diameter which means only skinny pens could enter the bottle. Most inkwells have larger openings. There isn't any sign that there was a lid attached and there is a cork in the opening. Thanx!

In the photos that I see, an opening "...only .25 inches in diameter" doesn't seem in-scale with a three-inch overall diameter. Could you double-check your measurements please?

In the third photo, are those internal threads visible through the glass near the bottom of an internal void? If so, I am leaning toward the item actually being a doorknob, though a diameter around two inches would be more compatible with such application.

Is there any evidence of mold seam marks in the glass?

 

[CHOODOT43]

In the photos that I see, an opening "...only .25 inches in diameter" doesn't seem in-scale with a three-inch overall diameter. Could you double-check your measurements please?

In the third photo, are those internal threads visible through the glass near the bottom of an internal void? If so, I am leaning toward the item actually being a doorknob, though a diameter around two inches would be more compatible with such application.

Is there any evidence of mold seam marks in the glass?

Hi there! Yep, the diameter of the hole is closer to 1/2", not 1/4". The diameter of the body is just under 3". There is a seam on one side that starts at the bottom and then disappears. Another seam on the other side begins at the bottom of the top section and ends at the lip which has a seam running around it, but not over it. I don't see any inside threads. There are three "collars" on the outside neck that get smaller from the bottom to the top one.

 

[willong]

Hi there! Yep, the diameter of the hole is closer to 1/2", not 1/4". The diameter of the body is just under 3". There is a seam on one side that starts at the bottom and then disappears. Another seam on the other side begins at the bottom of the top section and ends at the lip which has a seam running around it, but not over it. I don't see any inside threads. There are three "collars" on the outside neck that get smaller from the bottom to the top one.

Well, 3" diameter seems much too big for a doorknob. I guess that has me weighing-in on the inkwell theory. That opening is certainly large enough for an actual feather quill pen.

If the largest diameter area (moving up from the base) transitions into a somewhat concave profile forming a shallow trough around the circumference of the item (again, I can't quite tell from the photos), it might have been intended to hold ponce (blotting sand), though it seems impractical to me, as ponce was normally applied via a shaker.

The only other theory that I can conjure, admittedly a long-shot, is that the item might have been part of a set intended to isolate some appliance from a path to ground. I rebuilt and upgraded the lightning protection system on Swiftcurrent Lookout in Glacier National Park during a stint on special projects backcountry crew in Summer 1999. My focus was to provide better paths to ground, with modern air terminals and highly conductive cables down to the counterpoise*. However, I know that some fire lookout cabs also placed beds, stoves and similar furnishing and equipment on insulators.

* I ran out of time and weather window in my seasonal appointment before I could complete upgrading the counterpoise, which is the ground-embedded component of a lightning protection system. So, if anyone reading this had visited the lookout subsequently and observed exposed wire in the rock crevices it is because other Summer seasonal crews had not yet gotten back to the project. I moved on to a permanent position with a different agency after learning about pending cutbacks that meant my position would likely not be funded for 2000.