Bottle Style Identification Needed Please

[NewbieBottler]

Hi! Can anyone help me with identifying any of
these bottles? What do you suppose they once
held? How old might they be? Any value?

The tallest (#1) is very crude with an iron
rough pontil which has a blue look to it ... is that
a normal residue from the oxide? The not-quite
smallest (#4) is cockeyed and also has a deep
kick-up with some residue.

Any info on any of these would be greatly appreciated!
[]

 

[KentOhio]

#1 and #4 are both English ale bottles. It's always tough to date them so I just say 19th century lol. They're worth maybe $10 each at the most. #5 looks like some kind of English bottle too. #3 is an American Whiskey bottle, c. 1880-1900 and worth maybe $5. Your best one is #2, which is likely a 3-piece mold American ink bottle. Without seeing a label, it might have held medicine, but usually they were inks. Value of it is $25 to $35.

 

[annie44]

Great photography and nice assortment of bottles. I am not an expert but am surprised at the low estimate in value - KentOhio, is that because they are not embossed? Or because they are not rare?
Anyway, that grouping is very nice together. Different shapes and colors - that's how I like them!
Cindy

 

[KentOhio]

It's both reasons; they're not embossed and also not rare. The green ink is kind of hard to find though.

 

[Andyf]

Hi,

I kinda like #1 & #4, and I'd agree they are probably English.

#4 is possibly older, shapes tended to get narrower and taller during the 19th century, but this is only a rule of thumb.

The reason is the change in transport and crate shape. Early crates were wide and low, to avoid bouncing off horse drawn carts. Crates got taller and narrower (and hence the bottles in them) to cope with being stacked on railway wagons...

Nice collection though, did you dig them.?

 

[NewbieBottler]

Hi Andyf ~

No, I didn't dig them. My brother dug & traded lots of neat
bottles on Cape Cod during the 1960's. He's moved
overseas and has asked me to sell his collection.
I listed #1 and #3 on eBay a day or two ago so we'11 see how
they go. The one you liked (#1) can be found on eBay if you want to see
the listing (6267071032).

Thanks for the history on bottle shapes ~ it was interesting and
informative! []