Colored Pontiled Utility W/Label

[Steve/sewell]

The tiny utility or medicine bottle up close.

 

[Steve/sewell]

Last one.

 

[earlyglass]

You will see many similarities between the glasshouses across the East coast of the United States as early as the colonial era. The similarities are especially obvious between New England, NY and NJ.

Here is a slide from one of my recent presentations. This is some Temple NH (New England Glass Works) glass shards, and pieces that match the shards. There was also similar glass produced at Germantown.

Mike

 

[Steve/sewell]

Man ,you have one of those little utilitys also Mike,thats three different areas with them.They are American German influenced no doubt.Nice picture and display.I wish I could have seen your expo live.

 

[earlyglass]

Many common forms of utilitarian bottles had to have been produced at most glasshouses. Although the styles of the vial bottles vary over the years... the basic form has probably been produced since the birth of glassmaking!

Even about an hour ago, I picked up an odd little one... not sure what to make of it, but cheap!

http://cgi.ebay.com/320654095153

 

[Steve/sewell]

Nice pick up Mike.

 

[tigue710]

Hmmm interesting stuff... Im still gonna say English on the vial... And after looking at bills Reynolds bottle I have to point out that the Style of lettering looks English there, along with the bottle.... I'm interested in how it was confirmed to have been made there. I have seen quite a few earlyeds that were blown here and in England and the difference is quite obvious when compared, but only because the English ones look like bottles your now saying came from mt Vernon. Now I have to wonder why they were blowing glass in styles used in England 30 years after they supposedly brought the styles from there? None of new England glass houses used those technics with the exception of some of the very early glass houses. Just making an argument here cause I'm not very convinced, but I do stand corrected!

Talking about early glass how that little green quilted "ink" that glassworks just sold? I wanted that bad, and think it was of American origin, not English.

 

[JOETHECROW]

ORIGINAL: Steve/sewell

The tiny utility or medicine bottle up close.

Thanks for the interesting info everyone...Steve,...love these two.

(oops, meant to quote the pic with this little bottle, and his sidekick...)

 

[deepbluedigger]

Have to remember that it doesn't automatically follow that a piece of glass found at a glasshouse site was made there. A worker may have taken along his bottle of cough drops, bought from his local patent medicine warehouse, because he wasn't feeling too great. Or have taken along a bottle of beer for his lunch break. Or someone passing by after a night on the town may have chucked their last empty over the fence into the yard. And the office will have had ink bottles made and filled elsewhere. Etc, etc, etc.

Association does indicate a possibility, but IMO nothing more. To be 100% sure it's necessary to have comparisons (ideally chemical analysis) comparing glass in bottles / sherds with frit and other glass remains directly associated with pots, furnaces, etc.

 

[CazDigger]

You are definitely right on that one Deep Blue. One shard at a glasshouse site means nothing. For example, I have seen a pressed glass cup plate shard dug there with a pinwheel pattern that just doesn't look like the same glass. They did make pressed glass salts, but I'm not yet convinced on the cup plate.I have seen various non glass household "trash" (ceramics, clay pipes etc) from glasshouse sites so that would indicate items typically used and discarded there and not just production items. The workers didn't just use glass from their employer for everything, they could buy bottles "imported" to the area at the drugstore. As far as the Reynolds Batavia shard, he was in business locally at the same time frame (1820s-30s)as Mt Vernon 1810-1844 and finding a shard on the site in a color (flint) produced there and I would say pretty much nails it even with a single shard but there is always a (slight) chance it was made somewhere else.