Colored Pontiled Utility W/Label

[midway49]

Asking, because I don't know. Dr Braddee died in U.S. prison 1840 or 1841.

 

[David Fertig]

I have never thought much about this topic, but I have certainly learned a lot in the last hour!

Thank you.

Now for my where from. I say it leans towards a light green tint. Just a shade or two past aqua. What type of pontil is this?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[David Fertig]

pontil

 

[earlyglasscollector]

Basically it's continental style, so either French/Belgian/North German, (that neck is classic) or just possibly made by one of those guys in America?...but from experience I talk less and less about this latter factor, as although there are good instances of say German immigrant blowers in groups doing "their thing" in exactly the same way in America as they did in the home country, I do feel that in general the tendency would have been certainly for individuals to curtail their own whims and fancies and fit in with the rest of the guys in the glasshouse....
But back to your phial, late 18th, very early 19th. being such a small phial it is perhaps likely to have been brought over for private use (medicine/smelling salts etc)in any case. The pontil is essentially a blowpipe one, but which is so thick and clumsy it appears more or less solid rod pontil, something which often happened with very small phials. The near clear glass, and reasonably thin walls another clasic criteria. It is almost certainoy not lead glass but likely a potash base decolourised with one of a variety of ingredients of the time. the length and clearness tends to put it later rather than earlier.
egc www.earlyglass.com

 

[earlyglasscollector]

ORIGINAL: midway49

Great thread with interesting discussion. Now that everyone is well versed- American or English?

ooh, now that is what I wanted to see...this is the braddee that intersts me even more (academically) than the coloured one. You have there what really lookd lead glass, does look like a solid pontil foe once, has the flared lip near enough, reasonable seriffed typeface, but totally attributable to an early American who no way had previous connections with any other country. Soooo....it is either an English made example for Dr Braddee, or wait for it....(as I rather wondered it might be when I first saw some small images of it) one of the first instances of a totally English style med made in America......! Banners out, trumpets sounding please!!!!!!

.....Afraid though guys, I'm going to plump for safety and at this point say in my hiumble opinion more likely made in UK for Dr Braddee as a custom order... groan...trumpets fade discordantly....banners crash to the ground.....
My reasons.....
1...I want to see a hell of a lot more bottles of this style of manufacture like this found in US to justify even one American factory making them exactly English like this....
2...The differences between this bottle and the other earlier coloured Braddee example. I feel that likely Dr Braddee made his money with the first bottle (American made undoubtedly) and similar, and then later he could afford the luxury of ordering "true British made" quality bottles which I'm sure there was a tendency even then following the war etc, to see as better quality, which would have aided his marketing.
3...The fact that this bottle IS so different to his previous bottle - why not just carry on making them at your local glasshouse? Other local glasshouses would have blown similar style items to the first...this later bottle is just such a departure in style, he has to have gone to a glasshouse in quite a different area to have got such a different style bottle, yet we are also talking not a great deal of difference in the dates - he was not operating long enough for that.

Just my opinion, and hope it doesn't upset anyone[]. Don't think it should affect any values either way. it's a superb very important bottle for early American History.
egc www.earlyglass.com

 

[earlyglasscollector]

...as for the Henry's though, well I guess I'll leave musings on that answer to Jerry. He has some interesting ideas about them....
egc www.earlyglass.com

 

[earlyglass]

Mark,

There should never be any offense taken from collectors on the forum. I enjoy hearing your thoughts on this stuff, and it gives us a collector's perspective from another angle.

I came across an interesting bottle over the weekend. This one is a "Bradlee's" in a clear flint glass. I am not sure of the flint content, the glass was light but thinner than most. It had a solid pontil and a flared lip. It is embossed "Dr. Bradlee's / New England Cough Restorative or Tonic / Boston".

Any thoughts? To me, the bottle has English characteristics, however, clearly made for the American market, specifically New England. This may be the type of medicine produced at the Boston Flint Works. Please let me know if you have ever encountered this bottle or Dr. Bradlee.

Mike

 

[earlyglass]

another shot...

 

[kungfufighter]

Pic of the base Mike? My initial "gut" is that it ooks to be an American made bottle...

 

[earlyglasscollector]

Mmmm yes nice. No I haven't seen that one before. Do you think he might be spinning off Dr Braddee?...whatever, fascinating bottle, as you say, initially English characteristics, but after this intense cogitation of the last few days I am beginning to see some ultra subtle tendencies separating . The brightness of the glass, the slight thinness of the lettering, somehow not quite the boldness I see on most English, without quite the contrast of stroke weights, (sorry getting into my typographer jargon here). Add the Boston very logical connection and we could have one of their "flint glass" productions.....what is also interesting to me is the similarity of observations I have just made, with the same observations for the Henry's bottles....? I'm pre-empting Jerry here, but I've never been totally happy with English attribution on those, at least the majority of those American found ones (I have had totally definitiely English found examples of the Henry's, really quite different). So we might be making links here with those also?
All just opinion of course...
egc