It won't stand up !!!

[MikeK]

Hello everybody, please be gentle with me as this is my first time !!
I don't have a digi camera to hand but hopefully I won't need one as this bottle looks quite unique.
It is approx 9 inches long of a light green colour with a silvery sheen. The cork appears to have been a champagne type as the wire cage is still attached. The seams stop at the collar. The bottom is like an amphora so you definitely can't put it down mid swig ! The writing down the sides are as follows ; J STIMPSON -GENUINE SUPERIOR- AIREATED WATER- EAST DEREHAM
Anybody enlighten me please ?
Thanks Mike

 

[IRISH]

G'day MikeK, welcome to the forum.

Your bottle sounds like a torpedo bottle, they where made like that to keep the cork wet so it didn't dry out and shrink. If you can get someone to take a photo and post it we will be able to tell you a lot more anout it. Torpedos date from about the 1820's up till 1900 or a bit later, if your one is the one I think it is it will be from the 1850's to 60's but I'll need to see a photo [] .

 

[MikeK]

How yer goin Irish
Thanks for the quick answer. I thought it looked pretty old. Next thing is borrowing someone's digital camera and get a pic uploaded. I wonder if the fact that the wire cage is still intact means the cork shrunk and dropped out, based on what you say about the reason for the bottom.
Best regards MikeK

 

[duncan68]

hi mike im new here as well
sounds like a hamilton (torpedo) bottle. east dereham is a town very near where i live in the uk, i'll see if i can find out anything.
duncan

 

[MikeK]

Hi Duncan
That would be great if you can find more info. The bottle was given to me by someone who dug it up in East Anglia then brought it out here with their furniture (Cyprus) so it is well travelled. I'm not really into this hobby but the more I study the bottle the more interesting it gets. I've just noticed that the lip on the neck appears to be a seperate bit of glass wrapped around the bottle neck,a bit labour intensive !
Best regards
Mike

 

[MikeK]

G'day Irish hopefully am about to upload picture of bottle, here goe nowt !!

 

[ronvae]

This is just a guess, but the bottle looks older to me than the wire cage closure--I wonder if somebody didn't add that later to keep using the old bottle. I know if it was in water, that thin wire would never last as long as the bottle, but I only dive for bottles, not dig, or buy, so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[MikeK]

Well spotted Ronvae, I've checked with the original owner and the wire cage was added so that it could be hung up with a flower in it ! Speaking of which, she who thinks all horizontal spaces were made for ornaments has similar plans for the bottle. Before this happens has anyone an idea as to the value of it ?? In the event of an accident, would it be a case of 'shame that was a nice bottle' or 'Jesus do you know how much that was worth !!
Regards to all
MikeK

 

[MikeK]

Hi all,
I assume from the lack of indignant posts at the suggestion of using the bottle as a flower holder, that it can't be worth much, so I will surrender it to the artistic hands of my better half.!!
Thanks for the advice
MikeK