pontilled? wine

[dw3000]

I went to an antique show today and picked up this old wine bottle. The guy said it had a re-fired pontil. There is a rough ring on the base of the bottle and some blue swirls. Is this a "re-fired" pontil or what?

 

[dw3000]

bottom

 

[epackage]

Debatable at best....

https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-188967/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#189318

 

[andy volkerts]

kinda looks like a sticky ball pontil.....

 

[cacarpetbagger]

I have always wondered about those myself. What I can say is the those bottles with those bases come out of pontil age holes.

 

[dw3000]

Thanks for the link epack. From reading the posts there, I think Andy is right - probably a sticky ball or sand chip pontil (not sure if there is a difference). If the point of fire polishing is to remove the rough pontil, then this would not be a re-fired pontil given the rough mark is still there. Sounds like the blue is caused by impurities in the glass, possibly resulting from the pontilling process.

 

[NYCFlasks]

I have seen this very same thing on the base of a number of black glass bottles over the years. I had figured it was a form of a sand pontil.