Is this a pepper sauce bottle?

[IslandJoe]

Hello all. I’ve had this bottle for about 15 years now. At the time I’d never seen anything like it but now I recognize it’s a gothic or cathedral style bottle. The thing is my eye isn’t trained enough to pick out whether it’s pontiled or not…also I can’t find a single example of anything else online that looks similar. Does anyone here recognize this bottle? Is it really for pepper sauce or just made in that style?

 

[Skoda]

Welcome! Your bottle looks to be in the style of a cologne or other perfume from the turn of the 20th century. The base does not appear to be pontiled, just looks to me like some concentric mold irregularities/stretching of the glass- I see that in late 1800's-early 1900's era mold blown bottles fairly often but I don't know what causes it. Here is a site featuring some cologne bottles in a similar shape that predate your example by about 50-70 years: https://antiquebottlehunter.com/colognes.html

The bottle was originally clear and was "nuked" by someone at some point (irradiated to turn the manganese used to make the glass clear into a deep purple).

 

[IslandJoe]

Welcome! Your bottle looks to be in the style of a cologne or other perfume from the turn of the 20th century. The base does not appear to be pontiled, just looks to me like some concentric mold irregularities/stretching of the glass- I see that in late 1800's-early 1900's era mold blown bottles fairly often but I don't know what causes it. Here is a site featuring some cologne bottles in a similar shape that predate your example by about 50-70 years: https://antiquebottlehunter.com/colognes.html

The bottle was originally clear and was "nuked" by someone at some point (irradiated to turn the manganese used to make the glass clear into a deep purple).

Thank you. I heard that about nuking to change color before.

It seems awfully wonky to be from the turn of the century. It barely stands up and the mold line doesn’t continue up the neck. Does that mean it’s just a good fake then?

 

[Skoda]

Thank you. I heard that about nuking to change color before.

It seems awfully wonky to be from the turn of the century. It barely stands up and the mold line doesn’t continue up the neck. Does that mean it’s just a good fake then?

Oh, to be clear it's most likely from the mid 1880's-1910's! It's not a fake or a replica

 

[DavidW]

Definitely NOT a replica or fake. It is a real, original handmade bottle that has been irradiated.

Keep in mind that ALL handmade (mouth-blown) bottles, even those made up into the 1910s or so, can potentially still be somewhat crude-looking simply because they are handmade.

 

[IslandJoe]

Definitely NOT a replica or fake. It is a real, original handmade bottle that has been irradiated.

Keep in mind that ALL handmade (mouth-blown) bottles, even those made up into the 1910s or so, can potentially still be somewhat crude-looking simply because they are handmade.

Good point! I didn’t really consider that.

 

[SPC]

Hello all. I’ve had this bottle for about 15 years now. At the time I’d never seen anything like it but now I recognize it’s a gothic or cathedral style bottle. The thing is my eye isn’t trained enough to pick out whether it’s pontiled or not…also I can’t find a single example of anything else online that looks similar. Does anyone here recognize this bottle? Is it really for pepper sauce or just made in that style?

 

[SPC]

Hi. In my opinion, yes, that is a cathedral Pepper sauce. Most bottles that turned purple were made from 1860 to 1915. Before 1860 they used lead (you might have heard of lead crystal) & then they started substituted manganese for the lead. There were some companies that continued using the manganese after 1915 and they were Heisey, Duncan & Miller, Fostoria, Cambridge & Imperial glass companies. I do not think there is any problem wondering if it were made after 1915, instead I would wonder how close to 1860 it was made. When they first started blowing glass and for a long, long time afterward they just left the jagged edges of where it was broken off. Some time, mostly after 1800 some would do another step & make what they called a polished pontil. This might be what you have but I would have to see it to be sure. Iron pontils also were not quite so jagged but yours is certainly not an iron pontil. I will write more later when I get a chance. I will try and pull out my many bottle books & check dimensions. Until then, Stephen.

 

[IslandJoe]

Th

Hi. In my opinion, yes, that is a cathedral Pepper sauce. Most bottles that turned purple were made from 1860 to 1915. Before 1860 they used lead (you might have heard of lead crystal) & then they started substituted manganese for the lead. There were some companies that continued using the manganese after 1915 and they were Heisey, Duncan & Miller, Fostoria, Cambridge & Imperial glass companies. I do not think there is any problem wondering if it were made after 1915, instead I would wonder how close to 1860 it was made. When they first started blowing glass and for a long, long time afterward they just left the jagged edges of where it was broken off. Some time, mostly after 1800 some would do another step & make what they called a polished pontil. This might be what you have but I would have to see it to be sure. Iron pontils also were not quite so jagged but yours is certainly not an iron pontil. I will write more later when I get a chance. I will try and pull out my many bottle books & check dimensions. Until then, Stephen.

Thanks so much for your input. I will look into the companies you mentioned and see if any of them are more likely to have been in north Florida (fernandina beach) where this bottle was found.

I’ll see if I can get a better photo of the bottom of it once I get home this evening. The blu tack I use to keep from falling over is still kinda stuck to the bottom in the photos I posted. Looking forward to hearing what you find in your books!

 

[Harry Pristis]

Hi. In my opinion, yes, that is a cathedral Pepper sauce. Most bottles that turned purple were made from 1860 to 1915. Before 1860 they used lead (you might have heard of lead crystal) & then they started substituted manganese for the lead. There were some companies that continued using the manganese after 1915 and they were Heisey, Duncan & Miller, Fostoria, Cambridge & Imperial glass companies. I do not think there is any problem wondering if it were made after 1915, instead I would wonder how close to 1860 it was made. When they first started blowing glass and for a long, long time afterward they just left the jagged edges of where it was broken off. Some time, mostly after 1800 some would do another step & make what they called a polished pontil. This might be what you have but I would have to see it to be sure. Iron pontils also were not quite so jagged but yours is certainly not an iron pontil. I will write more later when I get a chance. I will try and pull out my many bottle books & check dimensions. Until then, Stephen.

Yes, do consult your bottle books, Stephen.