Found this old 1800's pottery bottle with cobalt blue and stamp sticking out of river bank

[antique214]

This is a nice 1860's to 1880's cobalt blue paint accented slip glazed beverage(ginger beer?) bottle found sticking out of a vertical river bank in upstate NY. Just part of the side and bottom was revealed. It took some time but managed to exhume the beast without damaging it. I was wondering if anyone has seen this bottle before, knew what it contained and any idea as to the value of this particular find. I'm going to keep it but would just like to know a bit more about this monster. The stamp says 'D.J. Whelan' I believe and is about 10 inches tall. I researched the name and turns out he was a beverage bottler in the capital district in the 1800's to early 1900's. Any information beyond what I have wrote would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[cowseatmaize]

Welcome.I think is may be THIS GUY, the mayor of Troy.Nice looking bottle.

 

[sandchip]

Lucky dog!

 

[Plumbata]

Great find, if there were ashes/clinkers or other shards in the bank you dug the bottle out of, you oughta go back and dig for more goodies. With age and quality like your fine stoneware piece, there may be some real gems waiting to be uncovered.

 

[sunrunner]

nice one.

 

[ScottBSA]

Very nice find. From my earlier research and looking at the number of different bottles of his that show up on ebay, it was a fairly large company at the time. I use a website, fultonhistory.com , to research New York newspapers for information on the New York bottlers and brewers in my collection.Hope you find more. Scott

 

[antique214]

Thanks for the helpful information. I know the cobalt blue slip on the shoulder and stamp make it more exceptional. Still stumped as to the value though. Can't find this specific one anywhere online or in pottery bottle books. I'm guessing it was used in the earliest days of Dennis J. Whelan's brewery. I found through further research that he was from Ireland and started his brewery in 1884. The brewery was open until 1909. It looks great sitting in the center of my display. I suppose there could be more where I plucked it but the ground is seriously frozen. Guess I'll have to wait for a thaw to see if there is more.

 

[RED Matthews]

I would think it is a 75 to 100 dollar item to a collector that wanted that type of thing. I have had five or six that I have sold approaching that type of value. I only seek hand blown glass items any more. I have a lot of glass to be sold some day. No hurry unless I need some bucks. It is a great hobby. RED Matthews