# Pitkin-type flask



## Crackers (Oct 8, 2013)

I picked up this flask at an estate auction in Coventry, Connecticut. It's six inches high, greenish-blue, with 32 ribs. It has a pontil scar base with "PG" scratched into it in very small letters. There are a few sand-grain size bits of opaque, off-white debris embedded in the glass, but hardly any bubbles. 

 Any thoughts on this bottle from the experts would be appreciated!


----------



## Crackers (Oct 8, 2013)

Here's a photo of the base.


----------



## cowseatmaize (Oct 8, 2013)

That's an interesting piece. It looks to have a touch of half post, swirl and seems to be 3 tiered (sort of). If it's not the real deal than PG is probably the crafts-person who made it. From this side of the cable wire I'd say a studio piece but quite nice.


----------



## oaks6810 (Oct 8, 2013)

I'm no expert on bottles compared to others on here.  I have learned that one way to tell if a bottle is modern or not is the wear on the base, unless the bottle in question has been tumbled. I see scuffs and what not in your photo but no real wear from the bottle sitting on a shelf for 150 years. The point of contact were the glass meets what ever it's sitting on. I'm not saying is modern, it's just something I have learned.


----------



## oaks6810 (Oct 8, 2013)

I'm no expert on bottles compared to others on here.  I have learned that one way to tell if a bottle is modern or not is the wear on the base, unless the bottle in question has been tumbled. I see scuffs and what not in your photo but no real wear from the bottle sitting on a shelf for 150 years. The point of contact were the glass meets what ever it's sitting on. I'm not saying is modern, it's just something I have learned.


----------



## epackage (Oct 8, 2013)

The etched PG makes me 99% sure it's a modern interpretation on a Pitkin...


----------



## botlguy (Oct 8, 2013)

I hope that Steve A. will chime in here, he is more experienced than I but having owned a few of these over the years it looks good to me. The etched letters are meaningless. The wear factor is much more important and the pictures are not definitive. In-hand inspection by someone who REALLY knows is probably necessary for an accurate assessment. However, the color doesn't look quite right, I don't remember seeing that blue in a Pitkin type, but the mid-Western blown flasks were certainly blown is shades of blue aqua to blue. If authentically early 19th century it's worth in the $500 +/- range. It's worth checking carefully.


----------



## Steve/sewell (Oct 8, 2013)

Hello Crackers, The flask is a modern interpretation of a half post Pitkin type flask. On original period Half post American manufactured Pitkin type flasks 1740 at Wistarburgh N J to 1782 Glassboro N J to 1783 Connecticut to 1803 Clementon N J to 1820 All regions in the mid Atlantic,Ohio Valley and New England the ribbing peters out into the base circumference as seen on the base of the Pitkin flask below. The color on your flask is too bright of a shade of blue not seen even on the Ohio Pitkins which were quite colorful. The P G might stand for a talented gaffer I know from Clayton New Jersey Phil Gilson http://www.glassgaffersgallery.com/About-Us.html  This guy can make anything I have seen him at work.


----------



## epackage (Oct 8, 2013)

Thanks Steve, I'm glad you got my email, it's a beautiful piece and it's nice to see him marking them in some way so that they can be identified as more modern pieces...[]


----------



## Crackers (Oct 9, 2013)

Thanks for all of the information! I was worried about the color, which doesn't match any photos of early Pitkins that I could find, and about the fact that the amount of wear on the piece is pretty minimal. The swirl does extend into the base, but only as a subtle pattern inside of the glass, not like the obvious external ribs in Steve's photo. 

 So, probably no Antiques Roadshow moment for me, but I'm still happy to have the bottle, which looks really pretty sitting on a windowsill.


----------



## Crackers (Nov 3, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Pitkin-type flask*

For anyone who's interested, I've definitely identified the flask. It's a reproduction from Pairpoint Glass ("PG") on Cape Cod. They seem to have made various bottles, inkwells and such using traditional techniques a while back, using the clear blue-green glass seen in the photos I posted.


----------



## Bixby Bill (Nov 5, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Pitkin-type flask*

That bottle was commissioned by the either the Manchester (CT) Historical Society or the Pitkin Glass Works Ass., a group dedicated to preserving and studying the Pitkin Glass Works, about 10 or 15 years ago to be made for some anniversary of either the Pitkin Works or Manchester, CT. They sold these Pitkin type flasks and amber Pitkin type inkwells, all made by Pairpoint I believe, to raise money. They are very well made, but they are much heavier than the originals and the color certainly sets them apart. I sold one at Bruce Ingraham`s auction, along with other bottles, a few years ago. If you bought it at his auction back a while, it may have been mine!


----------



## glass man (Nov 6, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Pitkin-type flask*

Just want to add..bottom wear don't always mean any thing..I have pontiled bottles and have had pontiled bottles that have had little or no bottom wear on them..not ruling that out..just it is not always a certain clue as to age..JAMIE


----------



## Crackers (Nov 8, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Pitkin-type flask*

Bixby Bill: It was indeed at an Ingraham auction, in a box lot of bottles and other glass. But this was just a couple of months ago, so it must have been somebody else's commemorative Pitkin flask.


----------



## annienme (Dec 22, 2013)

*Re:  RE: Pitkin-type flask*

Hello all, Here it is late December and I'm sorry that I'm just reading this very interesting thread about the reproduction Pitkin-type flask.  I've been collecting these flasks for over 30 years and enjoy them for the skill and craft that went into blowing them.  This reproduction example by Pairpoint is a good one and certainly worth keeping in a window.  I see there are already knowledgeable collectors here but I'd be honored to participate in any discussion about Pitkin-type glass.


----------

