Help Please - Free-Blown & Blackglass Bottles

[LIBOTTLE]

The following Free Blownbottles are all free-blown bottles that were part of an old collection of bottle I bought. All except (maybe) the one furthest to the right. There is a slight seam, about half an inch long just below the lip. No seams on the rest of the bottle but there are several lateral lines around the bottle from top to bottom. Not sure if this was spun as I have read on some sites, or if it was just the way the lip was applied. They range in size from far left (14†high, 5 7/8†at base to the far right (10†high, 2 ½†at base) as well as color (from far left to far right light blue/green, green, light green, green, green, olive, olive to dark at the base, yellow/amber to dark at base, dark olive, green to dark base). I am new to all of this and would greatly appreciate any information on these bottles. Is there a relatively accurate way to determine age? What was the 14†bottle used for? Are some more valuable than others and what would a projected value be for each bottle. Great forum here, have had some wonderful help so far, and am enjoying learning about my new bottle collection. Thank you all for your help, much appreciated!

 

[LIBOTTLE]

not sure if these help, but a few more

 

[LIBOTTLE]

3

 

[LIBOTTLE]

4

 

[LIBOTTLE]

5

 

[LIBOTTLE]

6

 

[suzanne]

They mostly appear to be booze bottles from
Germany. Pre-1900. They would've been packed in crates and shipped. The kick-up bottoms stablized them in the crate. Some look American too. They are sort of plentiful as old bottles go and make good window bottles worth form 2 to 10 dollars depending on condition.

 

[surfaceone]

The following Free Blownbottles are all free-blown bottles that were part of an old collection of bottle I bought. All except (maybe) the one furthest to the right. There is a slight seam, about half an inch long just below the lip. No seams on the rest of the bottle but there are several lateral lines around the bottle from top to bottom. Not sure if this was spun as I have read on some sites, or if it was just the way the lip was applied.

Hello LIBOTTLE,

Welcome to the A-BN and thanks for bringing us pictures of your new bottles. When I think of "Free Blown" glass, I think of bottles or containers made without the use of moulds or any tools beyond the hand held blowpipe, punty rod, paddles, lipping tools, or marvering table. Perhaps others will have a more complete explanation.

Here's Bill Lindsey's definition from a site I would recommend to you:

"Free-blown - Glass formed by blowing and manipulation by hand and/or with tools but without the aid of a mold to shape the bottle. Thus, a free-blown bottle has no mold seams or other mold induced markings. Also called "off-hand" blowing or working (Scholes 1952)." From.

Bill Lindsey has a good piece on Free-Blown Manufacturing.

I think there would be more evidence of irregular form, were they truly "free blown." Those "lateral lines around the bottle from top to bottom" sound like evidence of a "turn moulded bottle" to me. Perhaps you can capture this feature photographically.

Have a look at Question # 3 ON THIS PAGE, for further information.

"Turn-mold (paste mold) - Refers to a mouth-blown bottle produced in a mold where the bottle is rotated in the mold to erase the mold seams and give the bottle a glossy sheen. Also called a paste mold since the interior mold surface had to have a lubricant added to facilitate the rotation. Both the terms "turn-mold" and "paste mold" were used by glassmakers to describe these bottles (Scholes 1952). Turn-mold bottles date at least as early as the Civil War through the later mouth-blown bottle era as they were still listed as late as 1911 in glass manufacturing catalogs (Putnam 1965). There are no machine-made turn-mold bottles to our knowledge. Contrary to the implications of the name, the bottle turned in the mold - the mold did not turn around a stationary bottle. This process is discussed in more depth on the Glassmaking & Glassmakers page."

From.

The large clear bottle on the right,

appears to be mould blown, with either an applied lip or a tooled one. I'm trying to see if it may be a 3 piece mould, but cannot make it out from your photo. Here's another Article you might find helpful.

Looks like you have more bottles in the crate, yet to make their A-BN debut.

 

[LIBOTTLE]

Thank you both for the information. I took a much closer look at the booylrs and although hard to see, I was able to detect some faint circles from a mold that you described. However, there are 3 which I still see noevidence of those lines. Especially n the 14" one. That one seems as though it was blown in a very crude mold because it is slightly narrower closer t the base than the middle and top. From what I believe is the shoulderlooks sll free form, as if 75% was blown in some sort of mold and the shoulder up t I the lip looks like I tv eas all shaped by hand. That bottle as well as the other two that I am referin to are also somewhat uneven In their shape, soots ths bump out a little if you will, sort of warped looking. There is also a fecent presence of bubbles ss well ss ripples I? At least 2 o the three. What would the 14" bottle have been used for? That bottle is interesting to me. Does I tv have any value whatsoever based on whst I've described? And I believe a couple of them are what I see being refered to as blackglass.....are.they worth any more than the 2-0 dollars that you suggested suzanne? Thanks again guys abd sorry if im being a PIA.

 

[LIBOTTLE]

Oh, and surfaceone....only one is a 3,piece and is not in those pictures. I brlive it was clear or light green.