Keep it on or take it off?

[herenthere]

Gettin back to the wicker. The other wine bottle with the wicker, it's nice work but that wicker is more like straw, where as the blob top wicker is more like very stiff and thick twigs. Much harder to work with. I was told this bottle came with a wooden top that snapped on tight. Either someone had a little too much time on their hands, or they just might've been trying to protect this bottle for some reason. I would imagine with the wooden top on, you could throw this bottle against a wall and not damage it. Great, now the wife sez, "it stays on". Man o man.
Well, it's over to the figural cologne posts. If anyone wants to unload any early American figural colognes, let me know. Those featured on plates 107 to 112 in McKearin/Wilson. Take care all.

 

[RED Matthews]

Hello herenthere; This green demijohn is really neat. I have some covered and some uncovered - it is hard to tell which way to go. This one of yours shows what looks like a two bar punty that was coated with hot glass metal and stuck to the formed bottle. There is however a smudging hint of other glass contact to the right of the two bars. I am just interested in your feeling of how it was contacted.
You have some nice glass and a lot of parralels with my interests.
Thanks RED Matthews

 

[GuntherHess]

I have taked the wicker off a couple and found the bottles cracked so I wouldnt recommend the throwing it against the wall test[]

 

[Delta Digger]

I Would definately take it off... Lets see the glass... What you got to lose.

 

[woody]

I believe the fabric covering the bottle is rattan.

If you were really good you could take it off carefully and reattach the rattan to the bottle.[]
Make sure to soak the rattan in water to make it flexible.

 

[herenthere]

Rattan...that's the word I was lookin for. Thanks woody. Now.....anyone have or seen any blobs with PAT 85 on the bottom? Here I'm fantasizing it's some rare $500.00 bottle, and then take the rattan off and it turns out to be some common $5 bottle. To be honest with you all, I think it's just some regular bottle that someone was using to show off their wicker skills, or actually protecting their little stash of moonshine. I understand bottles were hard to come by in certain parts of the country back in them days. And.....instead of running the wicker around the bottom, they use a thick block of wood for the base. Hmmmmmmm.

 

[Just Dig it]

I say if you can make out something more then This Bottle Not To Be Sold then its worth the Gamble.. But that may just be me

 

[herenthere]

Red, here's another pic. It looks like a U shaped branding type iron rod. There's only the two marks. But this thing weighs a ton. To think, the punty had to really, really have a grip in order to form the top, and then to break it off with all the bubbles surrounding it. These here gaffers knew their stuff.

 

[GuntherHess]

The wood bases are pretty common on the wickered bottles.
The wicker was the 19th century equivalent of bubble wrap. It helped bottles being shipped make it in one piece.

 

[RED Matthews]

Hello and a bit THANK YOU herenthere; The pontil would be strong. I'd agree that they had to know what they were doing to get the punty off without breaking the bottom with those big bubbles. The next question is the weight. It is something I like to know on these big bottles because I know what kind of a man had to handle that parison on the blowpipe before it was blown-in-the-mold. Send me a PM will be fine. I noticed a rather large circle slightly to the right of the pontil marks. What does that indicate? I will have to back and look at the other bottom picture. I just don't know how to go back on a thread like this - except to search.
RED Matthews