# Who Collects Black Glass?



## Harry Pristis (Jul 14, 2016)

Who has some black glass bottles to show us?  Don't be shy . . . Give us or get some information about your bottles here!

Here are two pontil-scarred "leaners" to start us off:


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## Harry Pristis (Jul 15, 2016)

Here's another, a "Dutch bell" . . . 


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## nhpharm (Jul 15, 2016)

I love the photos!  I have a few pieces-will try to get some photos.


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## Harry Pristis (Jul 15, 2016)

That'll be great, nhpharm!

Here's another example:

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## Harry Pristis (Jul 16, 2016)

Another early case bottle, this one without a pontil scar.  It does have a diamond or square pattern on the bottom that is off-set from the center of the bottom  The mollette (tool used to push up the bottom) mark is about centered.

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## Harry Pristis (Jul 18, 2016)

Here is a later case bottle . . . It is just chock-full of air bubbles.

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## Harry Pristis (Jul 22, 2016)

*Preserving Bottles*

Here's a pair of French preserving jars:

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## inbottleitrust (Jul 31, 2016)

I do! especially gin bottle. I'll post some photo later.


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## Harry Pristis (Jul 31, 2016)

That'll be great, inbottleitrust!

Here are a couple, a small and a large:

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## Harry Pristis (Aug 29, 2016)

I have a black glass bottle that is sort of an odd-ball in my collection.  I don't know if the bottle is British or American or from someplace I haven't considered.  Can readers here tell me if this form is familiar in local digs?

The bottle was blown in a turn-mold, and has a lip that suggests to me a British beer/ale bottle.  The volume is 24 fluid ounces, which is a beer bottle size in the USA.  The sloping shoulders with the skirted bead-lip make it stand out on a shelf of early wine bottles.  I'm only guessing at a date of 1840-60 for this bottle if it's a British bottle, and 1860-70s if it's an American bottle.

Can you help me with opinions on this bottle?

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## Harry Pristis (Sep 5, 2016)

*Black Glass*

Here's one I found in a river:

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## Harry Pristis (Sep 11, 2016)

*Black Glass*

Here's a pair of blacking bottles, circa 1840s:

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## obxcomber (May 1, 2018)

Hey  there! I collect sea glass, and especially treasure the black glass I find. Can you tell me anything about the patina on this shard I found a couple of days ago? Benicia?
[video]https://www.facebook.com/kelly.merrell.92/videos/10214026112384575/[/video]


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## Harry Pristis (May 3, 2018)

Sorry, Kelly, there just not enough of the bottle left to say much about it.  I do note that it is thick-walled.  That may indicate that it was used for a carbonated beverage like champagne.  A champagne bottle -- the earlier ones, at least -- often will have some curve vertically.  Here are some earlier champagne bottles:


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## obxcomber (May 4, 2018)

Thanks for getting back to me That actually confirms my guess, since I've held my fair share of champagne bottles, and the shape hasn't changed much over the centuries. What I'm really curious about is the powdery iridescent film, as I have seen that sort of residue in images of old black bottles. I've had someone in another thread describe a chemical process that sounds like what I've read about Benicia iridescence, but I don't understand the opaque/iridescent film. Is it byproduct of the corrosion? Should it be removed, and if it is removed will the iridescence remain?


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## Nick79 (Jul 13, 2018)

I have a few
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




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## TROG (Jul 16, 2018)

wrong mesage


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## TROG (Jul 16, 2018)

Harry Pristis said:


> I have a black glass bottle that is sort of an odd-ball in my collection.  I don't know if the bottle is British or American or from someplace I haven't considered.  Can readers here tell me if this form is familiar in local digs?
> 
> The bottle was blown in a turn-mold, and has a lip that suggests to me a British beer/ale bottle.  The volume is 24 fluid ounces, which is a beer bottle size in the USA.  The sloping shoulders with the skirted bead-lip make it stand out on a shelf of early wine bottles.  I'm only guessing at a date of 1840-60 for this bottle if it's a British bottle, and 1860-70s if it's an American bottle.
> 
> ...



Hi Harry, The base certainly looks English from around 1860 but the top seems completely different to the normal English blacks we get here in Australia


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## Harry Pristis (Jul 16, 2018)

Thanks, TROG . . . I appreciate the observation.  Sometimes, we just have to eliminate possibilities until what's left must be the answer.


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## sandchip (Jul 20, 2018)

I don't have a whole lot of black glass, but here's a couple of rare Lynch & Clarke varients.


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## Harry Pristis (Jul 20, 2018)

sandchip said:


> I don't have a whole lot of black glass, but here's a couple of rare Lynch & Clarke varients.
> 
> View attachment 183691




Great pair!  Early embossed black glass is very desireable.


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## Harry Pristis (Dec 17, 2019)

*Here's another example to keep the thread alive:







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## slugplate (Dec 17, 2019)

Harry, I'm glad you post pics of some of the most amazing bottles you have in your collection. If anything, it gives me greater motivation to keep hunting and digging. Your website is pretty amazing too and I highly recommend it.


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## sandchip (Dec 18, 2019)

Here's one to help the cause.


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## Screwtop (Jan 3, 2020)




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## Harry Pristis (Jan 3, 2020)

*Here's one I just photographed to put on our favorite auction site.  It dates to 1740-60.



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## sandchip (Jan 3, 2020)

Here's a Hopkin's Chalybeate.


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## Harry Pristis (Jan 3, 2020)




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## sandchip (Jan 4, 2020)

Thanks for that ad, Harry.  It mentions gallons.  Wouldn't it be amazing if there is an iron pontiled gallon-sized Hopkins out there?


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## Harry Pristis (Jan 4, 2020)

*Yes, indeed -- any size beyond the pint(?) size would be giddy exciting.*


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## Screwtop (Jan 4, 2020)

Any idea on this?







I'm thinking Hungarian mineral water. On the base, it is embossed "keseru viz forras kocs".


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## Harry Pristis (Feb 27, 2020)

Screwtop said:


> Any idea on this?
> 
> I'm thinking Hungarian mineral water. On the base, it is embossed "keseru viz forras kocs".



*Your bottle, Screwtop, is certainly a ringer for a bitterquelle bottle.

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## Screwtop (Feb 28, 2020)

Harry Pristis said:


> *Your bottle, Screwtop, is certainly a ringer for a bitterquelle bottle.View attachment 203139*




It's different on the bottom. I'll take a pic.


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## sandchip (Feb 28, 2020)

Most of you have probably seen it, but I'll throw it on to keep things rolling.  "Washington - Purifier - M.A. Micklejohn, N.O."  Pontil's a little weak but we can't have everything.


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## Harry Pristis (Feb 28, 2020)

*Here's an onion bottle, the shape was called a "horse hoof" in Dutch.*


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## Robby Raccoon (Mar 1, 2020)

I don't collect black glass per se, but I do have two examples in my collection now. One is an 1875 labeled ale featuring some milkiness in it, and the other is an onion with an amber swirl wrapping around it two and a half times which I'll post in its own thread later.


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 4, 2020)

*Great onion, Robby!  According to Van den Bossche, these were mostly made in Belgium and Germany for the Dutch market.  I understand that the flat-sided, bright green examples came from Germany.  My specimen has ripples and adhesions on the surface, though the lip is precisely finished.



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## Robby Raccoon (Mar 4, 2020)

Harry Pristis said:


> *According to Van den Bossche, these were mostly made in Belgium and Germany for the Dutch market.  I understand that the flat-sided, bright green examples came from Germany.*


Thanks for the more accurate info.


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## DeepSeaDan (Mar 15, 2020)

I have but a few blacks, this one being my favourite:


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## J.R. Collector (Mar 15, 2020)

Can you tell its black glass? Almost hate even handling this bottle because of how cool this looks.


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## Boondocker (Apr 9, 2020)

I like black glass. Here is some from 1850's gold rush. Found in Australia.


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## Harry Pristis (Jun 5, 2020)

*Can we revivify this thread!
Here's a bottle probably blown in the Alloa Glassworks (near Glasgow) in the 1820s.





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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Jun 15, 2020)

DeepSeaDan said:


> I have but a few blacks, this one being my favourite:
> 
> View attachment 204005View attachment 204006


Nice 3 PC mold black glass.


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## Harry Pristis (Jun 15, 2020)

*Crude, but functional:



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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Jun 16, 2020)

Harry Pristis said:


> *Crude, but functional:
> 
> View attachment 208783*


Hey Harry those are gorgeous. How many fluid ounces do they hold. I could only imagine what they would pay for a six pack. lol! Maybe a half penny. Inflation is a bummer.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## Harry Pristis (Jun 19, 2020)

*Here are a couple of "leaners," as I call them.  Production, production, production!  As long as you could cork them and they were approximately the right size, they passed Quality Control!



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## sandchip (Jun 19, 2020)

Very nice, Harry.  Aren't we fortunate that quality control was practically nonexistent in commercial bottle making back then?  I can only sit back and watch at this point.  I've posted about all I have.


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## Harry Pristis (Jun 21, 2020)

*Here's a French truffles bottle:



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## DeepSeaDan (Feb 1, 2021)

One more Black Glass...


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## Harry Pristis (Feb 1, 2021)

*Here are some of my fav's.  I am always looking for a different color variant.



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