Is this Sealed Bottle any good?

[BeachComber]

hi, Found this sealed bottle last week. Its over a foot tall and is in excellent condition. I cannot tell the age of this bottle. Does anyone know if this thing is old and genuine or if it is a modern bottle made to look old? Unfortunately, I cant read the writting on the seal. Please let me know what you guys think of this bottle. Thanks

 

[brokenshovel]

Looks European most likely around 1900. Most I've seen like this were used to hold olive oil

 

[deepbluedigger]

Looks like a Zara maraschino (cherry) liqueur bottle, from the town of Zara (now Zadar) in what it now Croatia. The seal is not very well struck, but the 4-letter word at the end of the inscription is probably 'Zara'. The double headed eagle with the shield (the very crudely engraved emblem in the middle of the seal) is the crest of the old Austro-Hungarian empire, which disappeared at the end of WW1, although the emblem was still used on these bottles for a decade or so after 1918. The drink was exported from Zadar all over Europe and further afield, from the late 18th century onwards. Early examples are dip moulded and pontilled, and usually in very nice shades of teal, dark aqua and pale emerald green glass. They are always tall thin bottles, sometimes square section like yours, and sometimes cylindrical. There were several companies making the liqueur in the town, the most common of which was Drioli and Luxardo. Yours looks like an early 20th century example. The seals are embossed on later examples.

I think the drink can still be bought in bottles of similar shape.

 

[BeachComber]

Excellent Information. Thank you very much. I knew the bottle was far too new looking to be any older than 1900 but then again ive known some european bottles to look band new and actually be from the 1860s. This bit of info confirms it. Thanks again!

 

[kakela]

hi, brand new to the forum. have just begun collecting zara bottles, like their shape, variety. i have six now. if any body has any they would like to sell or trade i would be interested. i have some hawaiian bottles, milks that i would not mind trading. thanks. P.S. i have seen photos of that type of zara, but the ones i have are a deeper aqua marine color.

 

[BeachComber]

Hey, if your interested in trading or buying this zara seal bottle let me know!

 

[kakela]

emailed you. let me know if you get it. what are you interested in trading? also have some beach detector finds, wedding bands. standing by.

 

[kakela]

looks like email failed. my email is roscoereeso@yahoo.com if you could shoot a couple more pics, maybe one of the seal and details of any damages or sicknesses. where did you find it? i have variety of bottles i would trade, all hand blown, couple of shasta sodas, crown top, a few university of hawaii half pint milks, uncirculated that have been selling on ebay for 60-70$ . one on there now that will go up on last day. couple other common hawaii milks, hawaiian sodas, some embossed euro beers and whiskeys, lots that i know nothing about. most are ocean finds from water off Honolulu, Hawaii, mooring area in 1800s when there was no room in the harbor. Shipping cost? where are you at? thanks, Sean Ross

 

[kakela]

Zara Seal

interested in buying or trading for any zara which i dont have. if anybody has one, feel free to email me with photos, history, price or anything else relevant. Have a couple University of Hawaii half pints that went for 65$ yesterday on ebay i would be willing to trade away. roscoereeso@yahoo.com or reply to post. thanks, Sean Ross