New addition. Is this a barber bottle?

[MichaelFla]

Picked this up today because I love milkglass, but I'm not sure what it is. The inside of the lip is rough, so it must have had a stopper. There is a floral pattern painted on it, and on the bottom, right next to the pontil, the number 39 is painted. Any ideas? Tomorrow I will try to get it out in the sun for a pic of the fiery red light that comes through it.

 

[strongj5678]

That is a dresser bottle...looks pretty old too. Nice find!

 

[MichaelFla]

Thanks for that! Now I have an idea what to search for when trying to find out more information, but with no marks it will be difficult to trace. The glass is much thinner than other milkglass I have encountered, so I figured it was pretty old.

 

[AlleganyDigger]

I'd say it's a Victorian Bristol Glass piece with about 90% certainty.

 

[MichaelFla]

Thanks! After John said it was a dresser bottle I did a search for those. There are several around the internet (RubyLane, Etsy, eBay) that are advertised as Bristol and have the same style. While mine has a different shape than any of those, I assumed that's what it was. But there is little information about makers of Bristol glass. I found a reference to the Smith Glass Co., founded in 1907. When I went to their website, their link for company information on wikipedia actually takes you to information about the Fostoria Glass Co. Identifying the maker of this one might not be possible, but I'm learning a lot in the search.Searching for Bristol blue glass inevitably leads to a transparent cobalt glass that has been made in Bristol since the 18th century, with no reference to opaque glass at all.I said I was going to post of a pic of the tyndall effect of the bottle, but we have had rain for two days, and are apparently expecting more for the remainder of the week. The red that shows through is striking, though, so as soon as I can I will post a pic of it.

 

[RED Matthews]

Hello again Michael. I have made quite a review of Clyde Glass of New York, because pf their making of early Milk Glass. They made a lot of women's dresser glass dish and bottle accessories. They also made a Fire Dowser bottle with a milk glass stopper. Their glass was shipped by the Erie canal system to New York City and west to Chicago by the canal and the Great Lakes. If you are interested I will get one of the Fire Dowsers to Florida - to give to you when we get down there. I look forward to meeting you some way - some day. RED Matthews

 

[MichaelFla]

Sounds great, Red!

 

[RED Matthews]

We are back in FL - and I brought you a Clyde Glass Fire Dowser, RED Matthews <bottlemysteries@yahoo.com>

 

[MichaelFla]

Sounds good. We'll have to arrange a meeting.

 

[RED Matthews]

Back to you. I have a neat green glass hobnail barber bottle. My better half has almost a hundred Bristol Glass vases - but most of them are in NY. I highly recommend the books of Michael Polak - subject "Antique Trader Bottles" - I have a third edition, sixth edition and the latest one that I think is the eighth edition. They are all different but cover well the hand made bottles that early collectors look for. The sixth edition has a good coverage of barber bottles. I watch for the old ones in used book stores. RED M.