SALE Miniature Souvenir Opera Glasses - Old Orchard, Maine

Collectibles : Bottles : Miniatures : Pottery

 

Here's a little bottle which looks like a miniature pair of opera glasses. It is only 2" high and about 2 1/2" across. The opera glasses are shiny, white, luminescent - like mother-of-pearl, trimmed in gold at the top and bottom, gold on the vertical rod and 3 horizontal pieces in between the eye pieces, the widest being part of the bottle's base. "Souvenir of Old Orchard Me." is written in gold cursive writing on the mother of pearl on one side only. The bottom is white bisque. It is marked by a red stamp which says, "Made in Germany" This is found under an emblem, a crown over a shield, containing some letters I cannot decipher. I believe this piece dates to the early 20th century when a number of German potteries were manufacturing small bottles called "whimsys" or "giveaways" for the export market. These came into the United States empty, designed to be filled after arrival. It was not unusual for items such as these to be personalized with the name of the tavern or retail store that planned to give them away as gifts or sell them to the tourist trade. Many of these "whimsys" were made to hold alcoholic beverages, but I have no idea what was meant to be in this bottle...if anything! Old Orchard Beach is still a tourist destination today. The bottle has no chips, cracks or crazing. There are 2 or 3 small spots of gilding missing, but not so much as to detract from the effect or appeal of this little beauty. The missing gold is on the outside rim above "Old Orchard" and is a line about 1/4". There is a small dot of white showing just above this line. The gold rim above the word "Souvenir" is missing a smaller amount -- there's a faint white line on the outside rim. The rims of the eye pieces on the back side are missing about the same amount of gilt. I think because of the reflection of the flash, my pictures appear to show more gold missing than in fact there is. Please email me with any questions.

Item ID: MK-101

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Miniature Bottle Souvenir of Maine