Westford Glass Works Bottle?

[ruccello]

I thought I would post this here, since I'm not an expert on historic glass, and I know there are a bunch of you guys in this section. We dug this a couple of weeks ago along with a few other period bottles - I'd say 1860's-1890's. The site is very old, dating to the 1750's. This flask is a very deep amber up top, flowing to a deep red-amber on the base. It's a pint flask, applied lip, with a smooth base - except for the small circular emboss in the center, and the large circular indent on the edge. It's fairly heavy, loaded with bubbles, and it also has this incredible texture. You can see a large ellipse shape in one of the photos of the front. The ellipse is very pronounced - almost looks like the mold was once used for an embossed bottle. From what I've seen and read about the Westford Glass works bottles, this looks and sounds very similar to the glass they made. I've included several images. What do you guys think?

Richard

 

[ruccello]

This was shot holding the bottle directly at the sun. You can see the color shift, and the texture of the bottle pretty well.

 

[ruccello]

Side 2 in the sun. See the ellipse shape?

 

[ruccello]

Shot outside in the sun. You can see how deep the color is in this shot.

 

[ruccello]

Base. It almost looks like a tool mark on the far right. The dimple in the center I've seen on other bottles, and another bottle I saw, which was also attributed to Westford had the same dimple. If you guys need any other photos, let me know. Thanks.

Richard

 

[ruccello]

I forgot to mention that this was dug in Eastern CT.

 

[JOETHECROW]

Richard,...I don't know any detailed info on your flask,..but it has beautiful colors and texture...again, great find.

 

[Steve/sewell]

Good evening Richard,The Mckearin numbered GII-65, GXIII-36 and GXIII-37 and the GXIV-1 pint pocket type flasks and the quart sized Tavelers Companion flask were all made at the Westford Glass Works. The type of lip finish on your bottle was seen often on the Westford made products.The colors associated with Westford glass types were olive-amber, deep red-amber, medium amber, pale-green, deep olive-green and yellow-olive green.Two other works making similar bottles at the time were the various works at Stoddard New Hampshire and at the Whitney Glass works in Glassboro New Jersey.Your bottle has some the earmarks of the Westford Glass works manufacture on it.Being your bottle was a local find I assume the location was not to far from the works? I have always felt most bottles didnt stray to far from their point of manufacture. The vent dimple is common on a lot of different glass manufacturers bottles so that would'nt necessarily mean manufacture at Westford.It is a nice looking 1860 to 1870 flask.Kungfufighter and Earlyglass here at the forum are much more knowledgable then I on glass from this region and would be a lot more helpfull.

 

[ruccello]

Steve, thanks for checking out the flask. The bottle was found a few miles from the Westford Glass Works. The color is deep red-amber which is consistent with the factory, as is the lip finish as you state. I always wondered about the distribution of bottles from these glass houses - I guess it made more economic sense for businesses to hire local bottle makers for their bottles. I wish I knew what else to look for in this bottle, to determine it's origins - but I thank you for your input.

Richard

 

[RICKJJ59W]

Your post brought back memory's of a dig we did 3 years ago.I found this in the first cap off.It is very dark tobacco amber.