Due to other priorities I am currently not offering any items via this website; I likely will resume activity later in 2010.
LIQUOR & MISCELLANEOUS
BOTTLES
and COLLECTIBLES
Listed prices do not include shipping & insurance. Please read the Important Information for Buyers section on the main "Bottles For Sale" page for complete buyer information.
Liquor (non-Western)
BELLE
OF ANDERSON milk glass whiskey bottle. Embossing is in a
six-pointed star with OLD FASHION HAND MADE SOUR MASH spread across the six points
of the star. The bottle has fluted shoulders and unusual shape and is the smaller (and
rarer) version of this bottle. Height is 6 3/4" tall, tooled lip, smooth
base, American ca. 1900. Condition is essentially mint, though there
is some very faint in-making glass roughness along one of the sharp edges of the lip;
an attribute often seen on the lip edges of hand-blown milk glass
bottles for some reason. Great addition to any collection.
Unavailable
at this time.
Handled
Olive Green Liqueur Bottle - Medium olive green, applied handle,
likely
applied lip (?) with silver or pewter decorative work covering it, smooth
indented base,
6" tall, ca. late 19th century - most likely European in origin. This is a beautiful
handled jug that has about half of the contents still inside and is sealed.
Both sides have a small label which reads: Liqueur de MERISE. There
is also a small neck label that says the same thing. Merise is French for
"wild cherries"...so this is a "wild cherry liqueur." Bottle is mint and has a nice wavy texture to the glass.
Unavailable
at this time.
HOLLYWOOD
/ WHISKEY - This is embossed in two horizontal lines on the front of
this fifth sized cylinder. Click
embossing close-up to see such. A nice glob-top whiskey cylinder, that if it
was from the West, would be more expensive. The brand/bottle is from New
York and dates from the late 1880's making them a fairly late applied lip/finish
cylinder whiskey. Not sure how scarce these are, but I have
seen very few of them, though I live in the West (though this one did come from
Washington State). Color is a light amber, 11 1/2" tall, smooth base which has a
bell type "kick-up" (like the Western Nabob's) , crudely applied lip - click
HERE for close-up of the lip.
Condition is very good with just a bit of slight to light staining in a couple
limited spots inside and some wisps on the outside that are not visible except
in strong light. Also a couple small surface scratches or "digs" on the
back that are hard to see and have no problems associate with them. Nice
bottle that also has some scattered bubbles in the glass.
Unavailable
at this time.
Keystone
in a wreath "shoo-fly" flask - Here is unusual flask that is rarely seen
and is quite esthetic. It dates most likely from the 1870s, is a "pint"
size (probably a typical 12-13 oz. "scant" capacity), and has some early
external screw threads with a ground off top or rim (ground rim is perfect).
It is a brilliant medium golden amber in color and has a lot of seed and
teardrop bubbles scattered throughout the glass really adding to its appeal.
This flask has apparently never been buried as it still retains the original
metal (pewter?) cap that is in quite good condition with just a little
corrosion. The base has an embossed keystone without a wreath; click on
base view to see the
keystone embossed in the center of the base. The condition of the bottle
is essentially mint with just a few light scuff mark. This is one of the
earliest of the shoofly flasks and most likely was made at a Pennsylvania glass
works...thus the keystone motif? Regardless of where made, it is a unique
item that could be used - with the addition of a cork disk to the inside of the cap - as a
current day "nipper" if so inclined. Very nice looking item
which I used to illustrate that bottle type on the
Historic
Bottle Website.
Unavailable
at this time.
S.
McKEE & Co. early shoo-fly flask - This large (about a quart) flask is
an early Pittsburgh glass house item that is probably the precursor type to the
later common shoo-fly and coffin flasks. This greenish aqua flask was
blown in a post
base
mold, has a crudely applied band type collar (a typical Pittsburgh glass house
finish type seen on many flasks made in the 1860s and 1870s), almost 9" tall and
5+" wide, and has an empty "slug" plate on one side. Condition is near mint with
no cracks, chips, or significant staining - a bit of sediment haze in the
bottle. This item was procured to use as an illustration on the
Historic
Bottle Website on the Liquor/Spirits Bottle page (
http://www.sha.org/bottle/liquor.htm ). Following is the write-up from
that website with a bit more more information on the style and specific bottle
history:
The very earliest examples of shoo-fly flasks appear to date from at least the early 1870s, possibly the late 1860s. Since many of these flasks are often embossed with makers marks from Midwestern cities ( e.g., Pittsburgh, PA., Louisville, KY.) it is thought that the style originated in the region delineated by these two cities and considered the "Midwest" in the glass making world. These early shoo-fly flasks have applied finishes (brandy and oil; exception to the right), no air venting, and were blown in hinge mold or post base molds (Wilson & Wilson 1968; Thomas 2002; Whitten 2005a,b,c; empirical observations). (The pictured example is) an aqua, quart sized, early shoo-fly style flask with an applied champagne type finish. It dates from the 1870s based on diagnostic features and was made by the S. McKee & Co. Glass Company (Pittsburgh, PA.) who used the S. McKee & Co. mark from about 1872 to 1889 (Lockhart unpublished manuscript 2004f). For more views of this flask click on the following links: side view; close-up of shoulder, neck, and finish.
Another interesting thing about this large flask is that the mold engraving very smoothly transitions over the three mold pieces that came together at the base - the two sides of the mold and the round base post plate (click on the image above). A true craftsman did the mold engraving on this piece! All in all, a nice glass works item with some nice crudity. Unavailable at this time.
Blown
decanter with original stopper - This great looking decanter is 10 sided
in the body and neck with three horizontal rings. The tooled lip or finish
is flared and the bore (inside) of the neck ground to more securely accept the
blown and ground stem stopper (The stopper is hollow - like a bottle itself kind
of - with a ground rim or base). I can't tell if this decanter was blown
in a two (body) piece mold or a three-piece "leaf" mold due to the design - the
latter being a relatively common configuration for specialty items like
decanters, cruets, salt & pepper shakers, and the like. This bottle has a
smooth base, is of clear or colorless glass (maybe an every so slight pinkish
tint), and though hard to date precisely, likely was manufactured between 1890
and 1920. Condition of this bottle is essentially mint with no chips,
cracks or other post-production issues to the bottle or stopper though it does
have some overall whitish content haze on the inside of the body - which is a
bit heavier towards the bottom - from something having sat and evaporated from
the bottle over time. This may wash out though I did not try; the outside
image shows it isn't too detracting. A very nice item that would be
a great gift for someone - especially if filled as intended, with some upscale
liqueur or liquor.
Unavailable
at this time.
Miscellaneous Bottles
BILLIKEN
- THE GOD OF - THINGS AS THEY - OUGHT TO BE - This great thought is
embossed on the four sides of the pedestal base underneath the "Billiken."
The base is also embossed with "Patent
Design / 39603" which was the same little smiling fat guy patent design
used for cast iron banks (common), book ends, pendants, and many other
"Billiken" items of the period. This bottle is the rare milk glass version
(also comes in clear glass, often painted) with a ground screw top (with
virtually no grinding related chipping) with what is almost certainly the
original shaker cap with holes (also about perfect), 4" tall, ca. 1908-1910.
The Billiken fad started during the early 1900's and this figure was patented in
1908 according to internet sources. Bottle is perfect and hard to find as
they were only made for a short time, it appears, when the fad was going strong.
Nice item in perfect shape.
Unavailable
at this time.
AYER'S
- HAIR VIGOR - These are popular bottles with collectors - particularly
for displaying in the window - for obvious reasons: the wonderful deep "peacock
blue" color. This example is about 5.3" tall, a tooled "bead" finish
or lip, and dates from around 1900 or so, I believe. The earlier - 19th
century - versions of these bottles were the aqua flask shaped bottles with
AYERS embossed on the base. Later (or contemporary?) examples to the
peacock blue ones were also made in cobalt blue. (I think later since the
cobalt ones tend to be machine-made, though not always). The base of this
example is embossed with J. C. A. Co with an "8" (or
"B"?) above and "8" below that embossing; click on
base view to see such. This bottle also has the intact neck label
which though largely unreadable (a bit readable with a bright light and a
magnifying glass) is 100% intact and proof that the bottle was never buried.
Click
close-up of the shoulder, neck, and lip to see such. Bottle is in
pristine mint condition. I acquired it decades ago at a second-hand store
in NW Oregon.
Unavailable
at this time.
Root
beer amber early umbrella ink - Stoddard manufacture? Well,
everyone speculates about that with these early umbrella inks so I won't (or
maybe I just did?). This bottle is a beautiful little jewel that looks like
it was poured into the mold. It has sheared and refired straight finish or
lip, a blow-pipe pontil scar on the base (click
to view base), was blown in a two-piece hinge mold, and dates from around
1840-1855 most likely. The surface of the glass is glossy, waxy, with
rippled whittle all over. It may have been professionally cleaned although
I think it was fire polished when made - a common bottle treatment at that time
with some types of bottles, especially those with sheared or cracked-off
finishes like this. Color is a medium to medium dark root beer amber
and fairly represented by the image. The condition is just about mint with
no chips, cracks, or staining...just one tiny pin point peck mark (with no
accompanying issues) on the lower part of one panel.
Unavailable
at this time.
Barber
Bottle - This is a mouth-blown, turn-mold,
blowpipe pontil scarred barber
bottle that dates from the heyday of such items, i.e. 1870s to maybe 1920 or so.
More specifically, this example likely dates from the 1880-1900 period and is a
brilliant yellow green and has the enameled "dot and daisy" design and includes
the original (?) shaker top for dispensing the contents. The condition of
this bottle is about mint - the bottle is perfect and the enameled design only
has some very slight wear on the widest diameter part of the bottle body.
No chips, cracks, dings, or staining. It also has some small seed bubbles
scattered around in the glass. Very nice looking item which I used to
illustrate that bottle type on the
Historic
Bottle Website.
Unavailable
at this time.
ROGER'S
/ NURSERY / HAIR LOTION - This is very unique bottle due to the
beautiful rainbow iridescence "patina" from a rare "positive" interaction with
soil this bottle was buried in. Click on the images to the left to see the
different colors that this bottle has depending on the direction of the light
(two different light angles). The same portions of the bottle have blues,
reds and gold hues overlaid and visible depending on the light angle. It
is very similar to the bottles that were found in the mud flats of Benicia, CA.
except this bottle has no glass etching like those bottle typically have.
It is 5 1/4" tall, smooth base (embossed with a "4" mold number), tooled patent
finish or lip, and dates most likely from the 1870s given the location the
bottle was found - the famous "ghost town" of Hamilton, Nevada. (I
purchased it many years ago from the digger of the bottle when I lived in
Eastern Nevada.) The origin of Roger's Nursery Hair Lotion is
unknown but had to have been shipped in from California like most things to the
Nevada mining camps. Patina aside, the condition of the bottle is
essentially mint with no chips, cracks, dings, or other post-production damage.
The pictures show the iridescence pretty well, but it is more impressive in real
life.
Unavailable
at this time.
PARK
PHARMACY / E. G. COOK / DETROIT - This neat chunk of bottle making iron
is an original mold plate - aka "slug plate" - that was used for the production
of embossed druggist bottles during the 1910s. It is embossed as noted, as
a mirror image of course to the bottles produced by this plate. According
to the story I've heard, this - and a small "horde" of such plates - were found
many years ago in an old shed at the site of the Whitall Tatum & Co.
glass company (Millville, NJ). Whitall Tatum & Co. was one of the
biggest producers of proprietary (i.e., embossed specifically for a particular
customer) druggist/pharmacy bottles from the 1870s to 1930s, including embossed
mouth-blown ones until at least 1924. This plate is 3.5" long, just under
an inch deep, and 1.3" wide and weighs one full pound. The back of this
plate has the engraved glass company catalog or tracking number of P3465E and a
screw hole where the plate was secured to the mold. The condition is
excellent with just some scattered rust here and there. An interesting
feature of this item is that it has the mold air venting holes scattered
throughout the engraved lettering. These small pin holes connect with a
larger drilled hole that runs the length of the plate. These vent holes
allowed for the venting of the hot gases from the mold insides as the bottle was
expanding. This plate was procured and used to illustrate the
Historic Bottle Website. Great go-with for medicinal and/or
druggist collectors and just to those interested in the lore of mouth-blown
bottle manufacturing.
Unavailable
at this time.
Croxley
Fountain Pen Ink - A Dickinson Product, Made in Gt. Britain -
That is most of what this 100% complete fully labeled English style ink bottle
says on that label. In addition it reads - "RED Flush pen with water
before filling"...so we know it contained red ink (aka "carmine" ink).
This is a fine example of a cylindrical "burst top" ink bottle that dates most
likely from sometime between the 1890s and the 1910s, when a lot of these type
ink bottles were exported into the U. S. from England. It is a nice bluish
aqua color, has the rough "burst-off" finish or lip, is just over 2" tall and
1.75" in diameter, smooth base. it is nicely whittled and is essentially
in mint condition with some residual ink & dirt inside. The label is about
as perfect as a 100+ year old label can be; see the images. A very nice
looking ink bottle that I used to illustrate that bottle type on the
Historic
Bottle Website as burst-off finished ink bottles are a commonly
encountered ink bottle type in the U. S. Specifically, it is illustrated
on this webpage:
http://www.sha.org/bottle/household.htm
Unavailable
at this time.
Pint
scroll flask in deep amethyst! - Sure wish this was made in the 1850s,
but alas, it is one of the excellent Clevenger Brothers reproductions
from sometime in the mid-20th century. Note quite early American, but a
reproduction of such. I believe this is an imitation of the GIX-10 pint
scroll mold which the company made in the 1950s and 1960s according to McKearin
& Wilson (1978). Clevenger produced excellent
reproductions, which to the untrained eye, look real...except that original
examples in amethyst are essentially unobtainable (maybe not even in existence
with this depth of color). Many or most Clevenger bottles -
like this example - also have a "CB" on the base indicating its
origin.
Click
CB base embossing to see the initials close-up.
This example has a smooth, non-pontiled base (a give away to me that it's not
19th century), a very crudely sheared/cracked off tooled "straight" finish or
lip, and a very crude body. Now that
Clevenger is out of business (has been for a decade or so) their excellent glass
items will become more and more collectible. This example is in mint
condition having never been buried of course. A great window bottle that
has been in my window for years.
Unavailable
at this time.
Miscellaneous Collectibles
1878
CC Uncirculated Morgan Silver Dollar - This is one of those uncirculated Carson City
mint silver dollars that was removed from the plastic holder that the mint sold
them in (I removed it many years ago). The date of this is 1878 - the
first year of the Morgan dollars I believe. It is mint condition, but what
grade - MS-60 or MS-62 or ? - I don't know, so I'll call it MS-60+.
However, potential buyers can click on the thumbnail images to the left to view
much larger versions of the images that will show you the finer details...so you
make the grading call.
As far as I can see it doesn't have much in the way of distractingly large scratches or gouges, pretty clean cheeks, a good strike although not much in the way of "frosting"...so it is probably between MS-60 and MS-63. These images are scanned images which gives a "harsh" appearance to the coin though I can take regular digital photographs of any of these coins if desired; just email me. Nice example of a coin made with genuine Nevada - Virginia City - silver! Coin now in a mylar flip. Unavailable at this time.
1880
CC Uncirculated Morgan Silver Dollar - Here is another uncirculated Carson City mint
silver dollars that was removed from the plastic holder that the mint sold them
in (I removed it many years ago). The date of this is 1880. It is mint condition, but what grade
- MS-60 or MS-61 or ? - I don't know, so I'll call it MS-60+. However,
potential buyers can click on the thumbnail images to the left to view much
larger versions of the images that will show you the finer details...so you make
the grading call.
This coin does have a semi-proof-like surface to the
background on the reverse (a tad on the obverse) and has some frosting to the
face and hat of Ms. Liberty on the obverse and to the eagle on the reverse.
These images are scanned images which gives a "harsh" appearance to the coin,
though I can take regular digital photographs of any of these coins if desired;
just email me. Nice specimen that is now in a mylar flip. Unavailable
at this time.
NOTE: I also have four more uncirculated Carson City silver dollars that will be sold in the near future. They are 1881 CC through 1884 CC, inclusive. Email me if interested. Two are in the original U. S. Mint holders, two aren't.
NOVA
CONSTELATIO - 1783 - No, this isn't a bottle but it is a very nice early American (Colonial almost)
copper coin (cent) that is in very fine condition. This is the version of
the Nova Constellation large pennies with the blunt rays. I bought this
coin something like thirty years ago, but never could give up bottle collecting
enough to really get into coins, so it is time to move it on. This one was purchased from M. B.
Simmons & Associates of Narberth, PA. They graded the coin as VF-35
- just shy of EF - and it books as Crosby 3-C. Click on the thumbnail images to view much
larger versions of the images so that you can see the condition. It has a
nice brown glossy un-pitted surfaces - pitting being a problem with these early coins I
believe. These images are scanned images which gives a "harsh" appearance
to the coin though I can take regular digital photographs of any of these coins
if desired; just email me. Overall a very esthetically pleasing to the eye
piece that "Red Books" in VF at $700 and in EF at $1,600.
Unavailable
at this time.
1899
MS-60 Barber quarter dollar - Here is another coin that I picked up
almost three decades ago - this one purchased from Bower's & Ruddy Galleries
in Los Angeles, CA. Click
HERE to see the coin in
the original flip from that company. They rated this coin as MS-60 and it
is a very nice example. Whether it would "slab" higher or not who knows,
though the surfaces look great and the strike looks pretty good to me.
Best thing to do is click on the images here and see for yourself what the
surfaces look like - I'm not a coin grader. All I know is that it looks
very mint and very nice.
Unavailable
at this time.
Oregon
Centennial Beam Bottle
-
Yes, this isn't near as old as the other bottles on this site. However, I think they are
very interesting mid-20th century "relics". This Jim Beam bottle commemorates
the 100th Centennial of Oregon's statehood in 1959. Front of the bottle has
trees, beaver (state animal), river with fisherman, and the wording 1859 OREGON 1959 /CENTENNIAL.
The label is on the front below the scene and is totally intact with just a little wear/scuffing. The reverse has the wording
1859 OREGON 1959 /100 YEARS with a bunch of snow covered peaks and trees. The bottle also has opposing beavers
chewing on the stumpy (literally) neck. Base has the usual "Federal Law Forbids
Sale or Re-use of This Bottle" verbiage and other manufacturers marks with the date 1959.
Colors are bright and the bottle is mint with only the usual imperfections of manufacturing that all Beam's have (glaze irregularities and the like).
A very esthetic bottle that used to sell for $50-60 back in the early 70's before the market for Beam
bottles crashed. Get your example - now that the 150th Sesquicentennial has
arrived!
Unavailable
at this time.
N.
E. - PLUS - ULTRA - FLUID - The preceding wording is embossed on the
four roof sides of this beautiful little schoolhouse ink which also comes
complete with embossed doors and windows on all the body sides. This
bottle is about 2.5" tall, just over 2" to each side of the square body, smooth
domed base with an embossed dot in the center, a relatively deep blue aqua in
color, the typical "cracked" off straight finish, ca. 1870-1880. These
versions of the every popular schoolhouse inks are thought to have been made in
the West - SF&PGW to be precise - which commonly produced bottles with a deeper
blue tone to the aqua glass like this bottle. This example came from the
West (California) and most others I'm familiar were also Western found -
including one we broke digging when I was growing up in Oregon. The
condition is mint with the usual "roughness" to the rim of the lip which was a
function of the blowpipe being cracked-off - instead of sheared - and not being
refired to smooth it out; an attribute common to ALL of these type of
schoolhouse ink bottles. For more images click
reverse view to see such; click
base view to see the indented
base. Very nice example of a very scarce ink bottle. Unavailable
at this time.
Click on the following links to go to these other pages with more bottles for sale.
|
WESTERN AMERICAN BOTTLES |
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