Colored Pontiled Utility W/Label

[Steve/sewell]

But if quite a bit of this type of glass found in large amounts on virtually every property within 200 feet in each direction of the site of the 1768 to 1773 glass works it would stand to reason that the shards most definitly and quite possibly these two bottles had a better then, then a better then not chance of coming from this site.Sure Stiegel must have paid money for any glass as cullet and probably ground up quite a bit of English made glass which has now been Americanized by the remelting. One could call them mutt bottles as they were sired by two parents who really came from two different places.

Manheim, Temple,were both small villages but Stiegel was producing enormous amounts of glass during the (Townshend Duty Acts).You remember the result of these acts right Jerry.It pissed off quite a bit of the populace and home brewing was now the game. Stiegels building of a large 90 ft tall domed glass works were not some visionary thought that popped into his head one evening they were the direct result of the hated Townshend acts.Businessmen in all parts of the country were spurred on to produce home made products to keep the money here in the colonies.

Robert Hewes in Temple was no different. In 1780, Robert Hewes, was the owner of a slaughterhouse and tannery in Boston., He like others in the colonies saw a great opportunity to sell glass items as they were limited in importation now.He built his New England Glassworks on Kidder Mountain near Temple. As glass was difficult to acquire in the wake of the American Revolution, Hewes saw seized the opportunity and produced quite a bit of glass in just two short years.In a nut shell the Townshend acts were the engine that drove our now great country into being.

For those not familiar the Townshend acts summarized.

The British chancellor succeeded in getting Parliament to enact new duties, clearly external in nature, on paint, paper, glass, lead and tea imported into the colonies. Other than tea, the specified items were not produced in any quantity in the colonies at that time, but the capability to manufacture them in America was apparent. Of special note in this legislation was the clear statement that the intent was to raise revenue for the payment of the salaries of royal officials in the colonies, thus bypassing a role traditionally played by the assemblies.

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.
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[appliedlips]

I have dug and sold two American embossed bottles that had solid rod pontils. One was embossed RICE HENSHAW'S LIQUID OPODELDOC. It was a flint glass cylinder from Boston ca. 1820. The other was a small 2 1/2" square bottle (trying to remember proprietors name) LIFE ELIXER, that I was able to attribute to an 1828 adv. to Zanesville, Ohio. I have also dug several and will try to dig them out, light green puffs and two small inks similar to those pictured in aqua with similar pontils. They were dug in the glass making district of Zanesville and have no reason to think they were made elsewhere. I think the size of the object as a lot to do with it of small,early American tableware has similar pontils.

 

[Steve/sewell]

Here are some shards found in Manheim at Stiegels second works the American Flint Glass factory.The larger green aqua seperate shard along with the dark green piece not glued to the card board backers were found in a garden 4 houses up on Charlotte street.one

 

[Steve/sewell]

More shard pictures.

 

[Steve/sewell]

More of the same.

 

[Steve/sewell]

One of my prized pieces from the Witmer family from Manheim.Their relative Sebastian Witmer was one of Stiegels highest paid and loyal workers.
The flask is a flattened chestnut dead on for the colors of shards found and as you can see a pocket bottle which Stiegel advertised that he had hogs heads amounts ready to be shipped to anywhere in the colonies.

 

[Steve/sewell]

The flask next to the largest shard.

 

[tigue710]

Nice stuff there Steve, I would no doubt confir as to origin, and agree the pontil is correct for very early American glass. I have seen American flint glass with solid pontils, but not colored utility glass from a later date as I suspect the vial in question to be. This next picture shows a similar utility vial broken, but most likely American dating from the 1820-30 period.

Doug, do you have a picture of the bottles your talking about?

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[deepbluedigger]

ORIGINAL: tigue710
I have seen American flint glass with solid pontils, but not colored utility glass from a later date as I suspect the vial in question to be.

How do you identify the American made flint glass bottles, and where were they likely manufactured?

There are various comments in books, research papers, etc, about imports of British made flint glass to the US pre-1840, and on the other hand evidence about US glasshouses making flint bottles way back before the revolution, but I haven't found any useful information about how to identify US made flint glass bottles. I'm gradually figuring out some characters that might distinguish UK from US (like: a grey tint seems to be a character of some US flint bottles) but there are some bottles, like the Byam's Opodeldoc and Whitwell's Opodeldoc, that 100% look British made: glass, pontil, lip, embossing style. So I'd be interested to know if there's a real possibility the Byam's and others like it are US made bottles.

 

[CazDigger]

Just from a practical standpoint, I would expect that embossed British medicine bottles were likely made there filled with medicine and shipped with the exception of copycats. The real profit was selling the medicine. I doubt many US embossed medicines were blown in England due to costs when they could be made locally and the nationalistic sentiment from US businesses at that time (early 1800s), there are many ads including those of glasshouses that emphasized supporting American businesses. Mt Vernon advertised in 1843 that they made vials and Turlingtons, Godfreys and Batemans and Liquid Opodeldoc. That may have been unembossed bottles in those distinctive shapes, but some embossed Turlingtons were definitely made in the US. As far as flint glass bottles, I know that Mt Vernon produced alot of clear flint glass (mostly tumblers and blown three mold), but including embossed medicines with solid pontils, although the bulk of meds were aqua with tubular pontils. I haven't seen shards but I know Keene made flint glass also so I would expect they made embossed bottles too. (Mike??) I live near the Mt Vernon glassworks and have studied the glass made there including some shards, but I can't speak from experience on other glassworks.