It sits right in the middle of my bottle cabinet....proud like a peacock.... It's a bottle I purchased many moons ago. Completely foreign in the mainly western category I collect. It readily makes the grade. It might be the color and it might be the shape, but this bottle...has a certain magnetism that I cannot deny.
I took the bottle outside to photograph today. The setting sun streaming perfectly from the West. Problem is, this bottle stands a little over 13 inches tall....It's hard to hold for the photograph & yet be close enough for a good picture. Still I persist....maybe I can capture it's elegance.
I really like Western glass....either bottles that were made in a San Francisco glass house or bottles made back East for the Western market. This bottle might as well be from the moon...still it sits center display. There is a great skyline of shape & color on my bottle shelves....short, tall, round, square... I can't walk by without giving it a look. The bottles are back lit & just beautiful.
I have been real fortunate to have found good bottles. There are a few extremely rare examples but mostly just a bunch of fine bottles.
Pictured below is a :
13 1/2" ROYAL ITALIAN BITTERS TRADE MARK A.M.F. GIANELLI, GENOVA 1860-1880. Tall, cylindrical hock wine form, grape amethyst, applied square collared mouth - smooth base
Here is an excerpt from the Ottawa Times October 16, 1867 : Royal Italian Bitters also known as Tonico Reale.....This letter written to The Ottawa Times from William Arnold...May 14th 1867.
Dear Sir..I am just recovering from a long and severe illness. I have received a sample of your Tonico Reale and from it's use derived considerable benefit as I find my appetite & digestion much improved.
An other article from the Morning Chronicle April 28 1868:
On Sept 1865 a certificate of Merit was given to Mr. Gianelli....for 17 years Tonico Reale (Royal Italian Bitters) has been a favorite in Italy....It's ingredients of composition have been imparted to leading physicians of Montreal....It is prepared and sold by A.M.F. Gianelli 22 Hospital St Montreal.
I took the bottle outside to photograph today. The setting sun streaming perfectly from the West. Problem is, this bottle stands a little over 13 inches tall....It's hard to hold for the photograph & yet be close enough for a good picture. Still I persist....maybe I can capture it's elegance.
I really like Western glass....either bottles that were made in a San Francisco glass house or bottles made back East for the Western market. This bottle might as well be from the moon...still it sits center display. There is a great skyline of shape & color on my bottle shelves....short, tall, round, square... I can't walk by without giving it a look. The bottles are back lit & just beautiful.
I have been real fortunate to have found good bottles. There are a few extremely rare examples but mostly just a bunch of fine bottles.
Pictured below is a :
13 1/2" ROYAL ITALIAN BITTERS TRADE MARK A.M.F. GIANELLI, GENOVA 1860-1880. Tall, cylindrical hock wine form, grape amethyst, applied square collared mouth - smooth base
Here is an excerpt from the Ottawa Times October 16, 1867 : Royal Italian Bitters also known as Tonico Reale.....This letter written to The Ottawa Times from William Arnold...May 14th 1867.
Dear Sir..I am just recovering from a long and severe illness. I have received a sample of your Tonico Reale and from it's use derived considerable benefit as I find my appetite & digestion much improved.
An other article from the Morning Chronicle April 28 1868:
On Sept 1865 a certificate of Merit was given to Mr. Gianelli....for 17 years Tonico Reale (Royal Italian Bitters) has been a favorite in Italy....It's ingredients of composition have been imparted to leading physicians of Montreal....It is prepared and sold by A.M.F. Gianelli 22 Hospital St Montreal.
