I Think I Found a Good Whiskey Today!!

[Black_Boogers]

Anybody know anything about this one?? Value, etc.??

It's embossed:

[align=center]"TEA KETTLE"
picture of a tea kettle
"OLD BOURBON"
"SHEA.BOCQUERAZ & McKEE"
"AGENTS"
"SAN FRANCISCO"

[align=left]Tooled, applied gloppy lip, whittled, dark golden amber, 12" tall.

Thanks,

Rick

[/align] [/align]

 

[downeastdigger]

Dont know the exact value, but I'm sure it is a good one. Can you tell if the lip is applied or tooled? Dont know much about these western whiskeys, but it looks good. Do your research. Did you dig it?
Bram

 

[Black_Boogers]

The lip is tooled with some glop. It came out of a privy (with nothing else really good) here in the San Francisco Bay Area area last week, and it cleaned up very nicely. Here's some more pics of the lip and the base.

 

[cowseatmaize]

SWEET-1!!! Maybe Bill Lindsey will be by. That's on the BLM site, dating I think.
Reading http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/MCKEE/2001-09/0999665336 gets confusing but it's possible the firm used that name for 2 years. That or the person was trying to say something else?

 

[Humabdos]

That's a nice one Rick!
I have it listed in Barnett's western whiskey #4 $650 to $1,000.00
Amber Glob top 1873 - 1885
The tooled top $350- $500
The aqua glob top $5,000 and up!
Also found in all shades of green $1,000.00 and up
Glen

 

[cobaltbot]

Nice! Pics are awesome too!

 

[capsoda]

Hey Rick, Outstanding Bottle! Nice root beer amber, strong embossing and an older bottle too. I'd say right around 1880 +or- a few but I would bet -.

Those heavely embossed western whiskeys are great.

 

[cowseatmaize]

Hey, someone on the Reno craigslist is looking for this and other bottles.

 

[Black_Boogers]

Thanks all for the input. I'm goin' to hang on to this one...besides, it looks good on the shelf! []

Rick

 

[Tykee]

Hi Rick,
I have some information about Shea-Bocqueraz & Mckee. James Shea was my great grandfather. Shea and Bocqueraz came to CA about 1850 and worked for Cashman and Sullivan importers. Cashman & Sullivan were from Cork, Ireland. Shea was born on Clear Island, Cork, Ireland. Bocqueraz claimed to be from France and has descendents there and in California. On his voters registration in 1882 he said he was from Italy, but that might have been his previous address before moving to Ca. I have been unable to find anything about McKee except that he was brought into the company because he held the patent on Old Teacup brand/trademark. The bourbon was from KY and bottled in CA. McKee died in 1885 and they dropped his name. The were all very well off and there never was a record found of his family selling the trademark. His obit reads: McKEE- In San Francisco, December 16th, 1885, Robert McKEE, of the firm of SHEA, BOCQUERAZ & McKEE, and a member of the Society of California Pioneers, a native of Belfast, Ireland, aged 58 years.
I hope this helps.......I wrote the referenced message years ago on rootsweb.........Peggy