shipwreck bottle finds

[barney00]

Here are some additional pics of the jar I just took...I think that's a pontil scar, yes? [attachment=photo 1(2).JPG] [attachment=photo 2(2).JPG] [attachment=photo 3(2).JPG]

 

[barney00]

Here is a short teaser video of the wreck site...the stuff y'all are interested in is right at the end. The bottom was littered with bottles...I can't wait to get back out there! [tube]https://youtu.be/qXNWYdsB1u8[/tube] Cheers,Mike <Edit: Video embedded>

 

[MichaelFla]

That looks to me like an iron pontil scar. According to Bill Lindsey that generally places it in the 1845 - 1865 time frame, which would be what you are looking for regarding date range.

 

[cowseatmaize]

I agree about the Underwood and the pontil, it's the ship I'm having problems with. Some say it was an 1837 British ship and others say confederate while other books say it was Union commissioned during the war.. I tried not to mix the USS with the C Vanderbilt but it likely I did, it was very confusing.Can you shed some light on this?Thanks

 

[barney00]

Yes, you are mixing up two different ships. Our ship is the C. VANDERBILT, built in 1837-1838 in NYC and operated by the Wilmington and Raleigh Rail Road Company as a packet steamer between Wilmington and Charleston. In 1861 she was either seized, sold, or somehow acquired by the Confederacy and moved to New Orleans. She made 3 successful runs between New Orleans and Havana. At some point during these runs, she tried to throw off the USN and became British flagged and was renamed BLACK JOKER. But that was a common ruse used by blockade runners... The other ship was the larger steamer VANDERBILT that served on the Hudson River, donated to the USN and served as the USS VANDERBILT. But this was definitely a different ship.

 

[cowseatmaize]

This was one thing from 1864. [attachment=Clipboard01.jpg]FROM

 

[cowseatmaize]

Of coarse since Vanderbilt build the family empire starting with shipping and ferrying there may have been way more the just the two... or something like that.

 

[barney00]

Getting back to the bottles, are the 9.5" wine bottles pretty common and of little value? Also, any ideas on that threaded lid preserve jar? Here are some more pics of the top of the preserve jar...the stopper stem is chipped on this one. The stopper is frozen in place...wondering if the pressure created a vacuum that locked the stopper down. [attachment=photo 1.JPG] [attachment=photo 2.JPG] [attachment=photo 3.JPG]

 

[cowseatmaize]

I can't personally see that as threaded in the pictures but it is odd to have a glass stopper on that type of bottle. It doesn't look like a ground stopper either though.

 

[MichaelFla]

I don't see the threads either. In the third pic it looks like you can see a glass layer in the seal. Maybe it was just placed in and then sealed with paraffin? I've never seen anything like that so I'm not familiar with it, but it's intriguing.