# 4 RAISED DOTS ON A BOTT.E BASE



## colinp1967

Hi there

 I have an aqua greenish bottle with four small raised dots on the base.  can anyone please tell me what the dots tell me about the bottle.


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## GuntherHess

Its braille for "this side down"


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## cowseatmaize

Good one Matt, I was going to look up braille and find out, saved me the trouble.

 Sometimes, it's thought, makers would put holes in the bottom of the mold to help with air displacement. True, maybe? That would cause the dots though.

 I wish I could find a default setting for font size.


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## GuntherHess

is really hard to say if they are vent holes or what without seeing a photo.


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## surfaceone

> I have an aqua greenish bottle with four small raised dots on the base. can anyone please tell me what the dots tell me about the bottle.


 
 Yo Colin,

 Welcome to these parts. You're not giving us a lot to work with here. Please put up a photo or three. Perhaps a better description, eh...

 Here's some information pertaining to Snuff bottles. Kinda anecdotal, but I've been hearing this for years.

 "Most people don't know about the raised dots on the bottom of Garrett's Snuff bottles. It was a mystery until explained by a man who as a little boy, was sent to the grocery store for snuff. If he brought home a bottle with less than four dots he had to go back to the store. The number of dots signify the strength of the product. Four dots is the strongest." From.






 .


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## RED Matthews

Hello colinp1967,  I never know what to expect on this forum sometimes.  I have a small blog on my homepage regarding the dots on snuff bottles.  When a formed parison for a bottle is hung or closed in the mold for the final blow, the air between that hot parison form and the inside of the mold, has to be allowed to escape, so the glass can be blown out to the mold sides and the bottom of the mold assembly.  This is often done with one or more vent holes in the bottom plate of the mold assembly.  If it started out as a drilled hole, it was often cleaned with a pointed tool and a wire to push the dirt out of the hole.  This pointed tool make a tapered form of glass on the bottom of a bottle.  They also made dots on the bottom of snuff bottles to designate the strength of the snuff product.  Both types of marks can be found on bottles - and the identity of the purpose is not always identifiable.  RED Matthews


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## colinp1967

Hi Guys

 Thanks for all you feedback.  I really appreciate it.  Can you please let me know what type of bottle it is.

 I have uploaded the pictures so please click on the links below and you can view.

 https://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii130/shafthq/IMG_0443.jpg





 https://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii130/shafthq/IMG_0442.jpg





 https://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii130/shafthq/IMG_0441.jpg







 I appreciate all your help

 Thanks


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## GuntherHess

looks like it could be a snuff bottle.


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## woody

It probably had paper labels on the indented side of the bottle.
 What it held is pure speculation unless you can find a labeled specimen.
 It does look to be from around 1870-1900 and it may have been a medicine or possibly a snuff bottle.
 Hard to say without more information.


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## RED Matthews

Well colinp1976:  The dots look a little small for vent holes, but with a square bottle like that I think that is what the dots were for.  It is difficult to vent for a square parison, but the distribution of the glass looks great for this bottle.  The glass thickness at the corners is heavy enough to prevent corner breakage from happening.   What the jar held is hard to tell, but it could have been olives, or a chutney, or no doubt no way of telling, unless someone has one like it with some label on it.  Nice glass anyway.  
 The lower right corner seems to be the worse for distribution. 
 RED Matthews


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## colinp1967

Can I thank everyone for your input.  It is really helping me learn about bottle as I am new to this.  I hope you do not mind me putting up other bottle for you guys to peruse over and give me you expert opinions.


 regards


 Col


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