c1830 Golden Amber Midwestern spiral ribbed hand blown demijohn with pontil and folded lip

Antiques : Bottle : Demijohn : Hand Blown

 

An American Midwestern spiral pattern 20 rib globular demijohn with ring pontil and outwardly folded lip from the 1820s or 1830s. This large bottle was once covered with wicker as stains on its base reveal (see below). The bottle holds about 2.4 gallons (about 315 ounces) and stands almost 16 inches tall. It has a maximum diameter of about 10 inches and a circumference of 32 inches. The exact color of the glass is hard to capture perfectly and so the photos included here show this bottle under direct outdoor sunlight, indirect outdoor sunlight and even incandescent indoor lighting. The color is amber with strong traces of golden yellow and honey brown.

Wicker covered cylindrical demijohns (i.e., carboy shaped) with capacities of 384 ounces were recovered from the wreck of the steamboat Bertrand which sank in 1865 in Nebraska territory on its way up the Missouri River. The demijohn offered here is globular, older and slightly smaller than the Bertrand examples. Nevertheless, it weighs 4 lbs 2 ounces empty and over 23 lbs when filled with water. And because demi johns and carboys (the other large bottle form) were so heavy when filled, they were often placed in protective wicker baskets or straw padded wooden boxes to prevent damage. In fact, one of the authenticating characteristics on this particular demijohn is the minute haze left behind from spending years in a wicker basket. The ghost wicker images are evident only along the lowest most 2 inches of the vessel apparently due to contact and moisture. There are some 23 vertical slats visible as hazy ghost image stains around the base of the bottle while the central push up has the ghost images of the finer inner straw packing material woven in a circular pattern to protect the bottom of the base.

Historical documents offer some insight on large wicker covered bottles in the nineteenth century. For example, a price list from the New England Glass Bottle Company (East Cambridge, Massachusetts) dated November 1, 1829 listed ten sizes of wicker covered demijohns with capacities from one gallon on up to 10 gallons. In that list, one gallon wicker demijohns were priced at 40 cents each revealing the high value placed on each bottle and showing us why they were often covered with wicker to protect damage. And the 23 lbs that the bottle listed here weighs when filled helps underscore exactly why these large bottles were so prone to damage since simply setting it down too quickly on hard surface could crack the base.

This spiral ribbed demijohn is guaranteed to be at least 160 years old and is in excellent condition (see return policy options should the buyer not be 100% pleased). The base exhibits wear, but this wear is only from the last 50 years after the bottle was removed from its wicker casing. The inside face of the mouth and neck has about a dozen decorking scars which also is expected on old bottles. The scars were made when the bottle’s firmly seated large cork was removed with a pointed steel tool. The cork is long gone but there is a small amount of cork scum still adhering down the inside of the mouth. Finally, the ring pontil is 1 1/8 inches across and has removed some of the bottle base when it was originally detached. The lip itself was first sheared or snapped off and then fire polished before it was folded outwardly and down. The workmanship is very skillful and the many small details help authenticate this example as a genuine antique.

Outwardly folded lips were a common rim finish used by some early mid-western, New York and New England glasshouses. Folded rims were also used on many glass hollowware forms from bowls and pans to jars, pitchers and even spittoons (see Winterthur glass collection examples in Palmer 1993:203, 210 217, 412, 413, etc.). Outwardly folded lips on American bottles and flask are usually found before 1840 and they are far less common than crude applied string rims (common chestnut or Ludlow flasks) or sheared and fire polished plain rims. Examples of blown globular bottles with ribs and special diamond patterns and with outwardly folded lips from the 1815 to 1840 period are shown in the collections of Winterthur (see Palmer 1993: Item 119, 340, 341, 342, 343, etc.). All of these examples exhibit very skillfully executed folded rims. But as new lipping tools and techniques were developed to speed up the finishing process for common bottles, the folded lip was abandoned probably due to the skill and time it required while the applied lip grew in frequency to replace these older rim forms by 1840.

The glass works where this particular demijohn was made is not known other than through inference using its 20 rib mold associations. Twenty rib patterned base fragments were excavated by Harry Hall White some 80 years ago at the glass works sites of both Kent (i.e., Parks, Edmond and Parks Glass works c1824-1834) and Mantua (1822-29) in Ohio. But since excavations have not been conducted at all pre 1840 glass works in the United States, then we really do not know how many other factories also used 20 rib molds. If any viewer knows more about the distribution of 20 rib bottles and flasks, do kindly drop me a note - thanks. Finally, one photo shows this demijohn next to four other American bottles all dating from before 1845. The other bottles are not for sale at this time and are shown here for comparison only. The photo shows a free blown small carboy (ring pontil), two chestnut flasks with ring pontils and a dip molded black glass bottle with applied finish (it has a fire polished pontil typical of the 1830s and 1840s).Finally, a 9 inch tall, 24 rib amber globular swirl bottle reportedly from Zanesville is currently being offered for $1850 elsewhere on the Internet. Other private auction houses and private sellers have listed the largest of the mid-western swirl bottles at $2300 to $3500 and up. So if you collect or simply appreciate the rarity of this style of demijohn, then you may want to purchase this bottle since it may be a long time before you can find another one with a full satisfaction guarantee return policy.

SIZE: This large bottle stands just about 16 inches tall and holds 2.4 gallons (about 315 fluid ounces). It has a maximum diameter of about 10 inches and a circumference of 32 inches. The glass used to make this demijohn weighs 4 lbs 2 ounces when the bottle is empty. The rim has an inner diameter of 1 1/4 inches and an immediate outer rim diameter 2 1/8 inches. The neck is about 6 inches long and the foot ring caused by the basal push up is 4.5 inches across. The shallow push-up under the base has a maximum depth of 5/8 inches.

CONDITION: This demijohn is in excellent condition with no damage and no chips. One might be tempted to call it 'mint condition' if it was not for the ghost image of the wicker and some minor interior hazing. The inside of the bottle also has some minor interior grime and debris in the lowest 2 inches that should clean up just fine if you have the proper bottle brushes. The only other disclosure to note is a small chip associated with original production that occurred when part of the base was detached as the blow pipe pontil rod was removed (see photos of base). Beyond this, the demijohn has NO other chips and absolutely NO hairlines, NO cracks and NO repairs or restorations. And best of all, if you are not completely satisfied, you may return this rare demijohn for a refund within ten days as explained by my Docs Antiques refund policy given below.

SHIPPING: All mainland US buyers pay $32.60 for fully insured and double boxed USPS Priority mail (insurance is INCLUDED in this amount for all mainland US addresses only). All international buyers will also pay only actual shipping/insurance costs for all verifiable locations outside the continental US mainland (these costs will be determined upon receipt of your address details).

RETURN POLICY: Satisfaction and peace of mind are guaranteed by Docs Antiques for this item. If you are not happy with it for any reason other than damage that occurred during shipping, then you have the option to send the item back in a timely manner so long as it is in the same condition as listed. All items to US addresses are fully insured and so if the item was damaged in the mail, then file an insurance claim and do not ship it back since that would voids the insurance. Please refer to my return policy for full details and contact me for help -- thanks.

PAYMENT OPTIONS: We accept checks draw on mainland US Banks (checks must have US 9 digit routing code; item ships after check fully clears), USPS money orders, PayPal or contact us with your verified address for other options, if available. Also, see our TERMS OF SALE for more details. Thanks for stopping by and do visit again when you have the time.

Item ID: RLm251.a563

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