# Understanding/identifying what a pontil scar is.



## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

There seems to be a lot of new collectors who are confused what a pontil scar looks like or is. They seem to know its on the base of the bottle but after that they get a bit confused sometimes.
Lets start with the open pontil which is probably the most common of pontil marks. The still in making bottle is put on the pontil rod with a blob of glass to hold it while the top is being made/tooled by the glassmaker, when done this rod is broken away leaving a sharp edged scar that would likely cut you if you ran your finger across it. Most dates point to 1845-1860 and some earlier for the use of this type, it is even still used today on blown art glass but some polishing often takes place on these newer vessels.
The iron or graphite pontil is the easiest to distinguish because it looks like an imprint of a black or rusty doughnut, these were in use 1850's-1860's.
There are other pontil marks but these are the ones most will see.
Machine made bottles-those with the mold lines all the way to the top made after 1905 do not use or have pontil marks. You may see scars of excess glass on the bases of machine made bottles but it isn't a pontil mark and neither is a kick up base you see on wine bottles.
Well that's a start but I'm sure others could add to this topic to help out a new collector's understanding of the pontil mark.


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## GRACE ABOUND (Mar 7, 2021)

Hello  Bottle 2 Rocks I Want To Thank You For Your Simple Explanation Of Pontil Mark . I Can Understand Your Concept Clearly . And Why It Was What It Was For . Thanks Again .


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## UncleBruce (Mar 7, 2021)

The early automated bottle making machines would put a kind of a circular mark on the base of bottles. See the photo below.  This circular mark happens on many machine made bottles and is cause by vacuum that the machines would use to control the handling of the bottle.  These marks are often confused with pontil scars, but are not the same.  Milk, soda and food products are some of the bottle types that will have these marks.  I'm sure there are more.  The photo below is from the base of an embossed milk.


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> The early automated bottle making machines would put a kind of a circular mark on the base of the bottles it made. See the photo below.  This circular mark happens on many machine made bottles and is cause by vacuum that the machines would use to control the handling of the bottle.  These marks are often confused with pontil scars, but are not the same.  Milk, soda and food products are some of the bottle types that will have these marks.  I'm sure there are more.  The photo below is from the base of an embossed milk.
> View attachment 220679


Excellent addition to this thread, I would say/add any bottle that has embossed writing on the base would not have a genuine pontil scar.


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## GRACE ABOUND (Mar 7, 2021)

Thank You Men .The Information Has Been Very Helpful . Grace Abounds


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)

Would/Could a open pontil have a big X in the middle of the open pontil hole?


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## Csa (Mar 7, 2021)

This is a helpful thread for us newbies. I know I haven’t found any pontil base bottles at all. I have lots of the suction type marks that Bruce describes, and also many rougher irregular scars which I think are Owens scars from early Owens ABM machine. Can you all explain that Owens mark/process and the likely dates, I’m sure a lot of folks finding those rough bottom marks think they are pontil marks. Thanks again


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Would/Could a open pontil have a big X in the middle of the open pontil hole?


Do you have a pic to show us.


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

Csa said:


> This is a helpful thread for us newbies. I know I haven’t found any pontil base bottles at all. I have lots of the suction type marks that Bruce describes, and also many rougher irregular scars which I think are Owens scars from early Owens ABM machine. Can you all explain that Owens mark/process and the likely dates, I’m sure a lot of folks finding those rough bottom marks think they are pontil marks. Thanks again


I think the Owens marks/scars are a totally different topic to be discussed on another thread. Lets just say the word pontil and owens are not related in any way. Unless of course Uncle Owen was the dude that held the pontil rod at the factory, lol.
Everyday bottles used for products that were consumed that were made with the use of a pontil rod generally ended about 1870. Of course blown art glass is the exception. Owens came along way after 1870 and was mostly automatic bottle machine production which never had use for pontil rods. I am talking about bottles made in the USA and not over seas factories. Their methods overseas may differ.
Check out glassbottlemarks.com for info on Owens and later Owen Illinois bottles.


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> Do you have a pic to show us.




YES, Post #1 & #2 is this post link below. Mostly referring to post #2 but what about #1?

(116) Bizarre base marking/pontil combo on import black glass | Antique Bottles, Glass, Jars Online Community (antique-bottles.net)


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> YES, Post #1 & #2 is this post link below. Mostly referring to post #2 but what about #1?
> 
> (116) Bizarre base marking/pontil combo on import black glass | Antique Bottles, Glass, Jars Online Community (antique-bottles.net)


The x was a strengthening mark for the base and it looks as if pic one is a sand chip type pontil mark and pic 2 is an open pontil with the x embossed as a part of the mold. I was referring to ABM bottles with letters and numbers embossed.
 Just trying to stick with the basics here for the new collectors and not be too confusing.


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## Csa (Mar 7, 2021)

okay, I'll read that again. Thought they were related topics.  I guess the Owens discussion is many years later to begin with so not pertinent to this thread.


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)

Updating this info for new collectors is a continous ongoing thing as there are always new collectors coming in here. this type of info should be sticked to stay at the top for any newbie norman new guy to read. I've been in here since 2006 & answered these same questions many times in the past.


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

Csa said:


> okay, I'll read that again. Thought they were related topics.  I guess the Owens discussion is many years later to begin with so not pertinent to this thread.


Well the reason I wrote this thread is because i'm seeing a lot of collectors that have found bottles that were made in automatic bottle machines to include abm Owens bottles and see that funny scar/excess wisp of glass in a somewhat circular shape think they have a pontiled bottle in hand and really they don't. So it is pertinent to this thread somewhat.
The best way to learn a lot about bottles is to go to one of your local bottle shows and a ton of questions will be answered by many knowledgeable collectors when you can see it in your hands up close.


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## Csa (Mar 7, 2021)

Thanks. Agree, maybe a sticky note category called “Newbie News”. 
 I’ve read a lot since I started and never thought I had a true pontil.  Probably in part since my bottle dump only goes back to 1900 or so. I’ll keep looking though.


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 7, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Would/Could a open pontil have a big X in the middle of the open pontil hole?



*Olive Jones (1971) answers this question:
 "The [blow pipe] pontil mark is a distinct ring-shaped mark about the same diameter as the neck (Toulouse 1968:139). When the blowpipe was removed from the base it either tore glass out with it or left extra glass behind. As the only area of contact is the ring of glass, any mold lines, embossed markings, and distinctive surface textures remain as undisturbed inside the ring as they do outside (Figure 14) (Toulouse 1968 : 139). "
Figure 14 from Toulouse is the base of a case bottle with a "cross" exposed behind a blow pipe pontil scar, much like this one:




*


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 7, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> The x was a strengthening mark for the base



*That's an interesting idea . . . Do you have any evidence for this assertion?*


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)

Harry, That Pic confuses me, if it was blown in a mold & had mold lines then wouldn't there have to be a empty blank space in the mold for the blow pipe? wouldn't that empty blank space in mold be in the middle of bottom?  if not how does the glass get into the mold?


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 7, 2021)

*If I understand your question, the image is of a case bottle blown in a dip mold.  The formed bottle body is removed from the mold while still on the blow pipe.  Then a second blow pipe, used as a punty, is attached to the bottom of the bottle.  The bottle is then "wetted off" from the first blow pipe so that the mouth can be finished.





*


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

Harry Pristis said:


> *That's an interesting idea . . . Do you have any evidence for this assertion?*


It could also be an identifying mark wanted bt


Harry Pristis said:


> *That's an interesting idea . . . Do you have any evidence for this assertion?*


IT could simply be a bottle makers mark id for that particular glasshouse but it could also strengthen the base some, is there a basis to say it doesn't.


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 7, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> but it could also strengthen the base some, is there a basis to say it doesn't.



*Yes, I think there is evidence.  If this were a technique to strengthen the base, we would see it used frequently on other bottles.  You made an assertion with no evidence to back it up.  It would have been better to just acknowledge it.*


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 7, 2021)

Harry Pristis said:


> *Yes, I think there is evidence.  If this were a technique to strengthen the base, we would see it used frequently on other bottles.  You made an assertion with no evidence to back it up.  It would have been better to just acknowledge it.*


Well thank you very much master bottle Yoda, nitpick the incoming freshman's thread. Is this really the point of the thread-I mean REALLY!!!


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)




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## treeguyfred (Mar 7, 2021)

Sooo.. here are a few pics of Iron pontil scars on the bottom of Porter & Ales (folks call these squat sodas, if they don't specifically state Porter & Ale)

note the big difference in the appearance of the smooth bases verses the pontil scarred bases


Iron pontil scars can be really dramatic or very light. I have seen square ones and rectangular ones, round domed or actual donut type!
Honestly, once a hobbyist handles a quantity of these bottles of true pontil era the important tell-tale features become readily noticeable.
I also saw the loss of some pontils in the early days of bottle tumbling... and now there are several fixes for that thankfully. I still see bottles at shows that have had their pontils tumbled almost completely gone, SMH - It can get confusing to entry level collectors!
~Fred


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)

Pic of 3 of my Iron or some call graphite Pontil Bottoms from Detroit.


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)

ooops, forgot my cobalt blue Ten Pin Tellers Mineral Water from Detroit.


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## hemihampton (Mar 7, 2021)

dug this broken Pontil Barrel Bitters on top of a Civil War Dump, right on top, not buried. Bummer not whole. LEON.


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## sandchip (Mar 8, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> ...Lets start with the open pontil which is probably the most common of pontil marks. The still in making bottle is put on the pontil rod with a blob of glass to hold it while the top...



Just to clarify, a "rod" was not actually used on bottles with an open pontil scar, but another blowpipe as mentioned by Harry.  The "open" is a descriptive term referring to the the fact that there's nothing in the middle of the ring-shaped scar or in the pipe used.  A rod-type pontil leaves a solid glass scar, less often seen on early American glass and more commonly seen on modern day art glass.  Enjoying the discussion, because as stated, there's a ton of misconceptions out there, like the term "seams", which I try not to use any more, because there are none on any mold blown bottle.  The word seam refers to the joining of two like pieces of material. like sewing cloth or welding steel, which never occurs when a bottle is blown, because the gather of glass is always in one piece.  The mold lines or "seams" are only the impression left in the glass of where the mold halves or sections meet.


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 8, 2021)

"The word seam refers to the joining of two like pieces of material. like sewing cloth or welding steel, which never occurs when a bottle is blown, because the gather of glass is always in one piece. The mold lines or "seams" are only the impression left in the glass of where the mold halves or sections meet."

*A semantical nicety, indeed.  A bottle can be described as a cast made inside a mold.  The impressions on the bottle are of the joins (seams) of the mold parts.  Those impressions then might be called "casts of the mold seams."  But, I think "seams" will survive in our shorthand vernacular.    *


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 8, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> Well thank you very much master bottle Yoda, nitpick the incoming freshman's thread. Is this really the point of the thread-I mean REALLY!!!
> [





Harry Pristis said:


> "The word seam refers to the joining of two like pieces of material. like sewing cloth or welding steel, which never occurs when a bottle is blown, because the gather of glass is always in one piece. The mold lines or "seams" are only the impression left in the glass of where the mold halves or sections meet."
> 
> *A semantical nicety, indeed.  A bottle can be described as a cast made inside a mold.  The impressions on the bottle are of the joins (seams) of the mold parts.  Those impressions then might be called "casts of the mold seams."  But, I think "seams" will survive in our shorthand vernacular.   *


Try to stay on point here guys I know its difficult for you. Try starting your own thread with this as a topic


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## sandchip (Mar 8, 2021)

Harry Pristis said:


> "The word seam refers to the joining of two like pieces of material. like sewing cloth or welding steel, which never occurs when a bottle is blown, because the gather of glass is always in one piece. The mold lines or "seams" are only the impression left in the glass of where the mold halves or sections meet."
> 
> *A semantical nicety, indeed.  A bottle can be described as a cast made inside a mold.  The impressions on the bottle are of the joins (seams) of the mold parts.  Those impressions then might be called "casts of the mold seams."  But, I think "seams" will survive in our shorthand vernacular.   *



No doubt, the term is here to stay, sort of like sunrise.  But I do want to be on record in opposition to its incorrect use!


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## Manuel Rodriguez (Mar 10, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> Excellent addition to this thread, I would say/add any bottle that has embossed writing on the base would not have a genuine pontil scar.


I have some 1969 Coca-Cola bottles don’t know much about it from Woodstock and have the yellow box too 12 bottles they look green


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## ronkusa (Mar 10, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks, really nice camera work!


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 10, 2021)

ronkusa said:


> Bottle 2 Rocks, really nice camera work!


The auction house 3 tier pics from the opening comments I didn't take, but the other 2 were previously owned bottles of mine.


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## American (Mar 10, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> There seems to be a lot of new collectors who are confused what a pontil scar looks like or is. They seem to know its on the base of the bottle but after that they get a bit confused sometimes.
> Lets start with the open pontil which is probably the most common of pontil marks. The still in making bottle is put on the pontil rod with a blob of glass to hold it while the top is being made/tooled by the glassmaker, when done this rod is broken away leaving a sharp edged scar that would likely cut you if you ran your finger across it. Most dates point to 1845-1860 and some earlier for the use of this type, it is even still used today on blown art glass but some polishing often takes place on these newer vessels.
> The iron or graphite pontil is the easiest to distinguish because it looks like an imprint of a black or rusty doughnut, these were in use 1850's-1860's.
> There are other pontil marks but these are the ones most will see.
> ...


No need to get in to solid or hollow rod pontil marks at this stage.  This could be one very long essay


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## American (Mar 10, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Harry, That Pic confuses me, if it was blown in a mold & had mold lines then wouldn't there have to be a empty blank space in the mold for the blow pipe? wouldn't that empty blank space in mold be in the middle of bottom?  if not how does the glass get into the mold?


That's the mouth of the bottle that is attached to the blow pipe.  It is whetted off after the punty is applied to the base, then the mouth is finished or left plain.  Plain would still require a trip back to the glory hole to smooth it over.  Otherwise more glass is applied to form a lip or collar with the use of "the tool".


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 10, 2021)

American said:


> That's the mouth of the bottle that is attached to the blow pipe.  It is whetted off after the punty is applied to the base, then the mouth is finished or left plain.  Plain would still require a trip back to the glory hole to smooth it over.  Otherwise more glass is applied to form a lip or collar with the use of "the tool".



*I think the term is "wetted off," not "whetted off."  I believe the term derives from the dipping of the shears in water to chill them before touching them to the neck of the nascent bottle.  Thermal shock is what separates the bottle from the pontil rod.*


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 10, 2021)

Harry Pristis said:


> *I think the term is "wetted off," not "whetted off."  I believe the term derives from the dipping of the shears in water to chill them before touching them to the neck of the nascent bottle.  Thermal shock is what separates the bottle from the pontil rod.*


Arrogance is such a wonderful partner. Don't you agree Hairy, oh by the way its a blow pipe not a rod.


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## Harry Pristis (Mar 10, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> Arrogance is such a wonderful partner. Don't you agree Hairy, oh by the way its a blow pipe not a rod.



*Sometimes a blowpipe was substituted for a pontil rod.  That substitution resulted in an "open pontil" or "blowpipe pontil."  The bottle was wetted off in either case.*


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## SODABOB (Mar 10, 2021)

Some interesting and helpful information (plus a whole lot more) can be found via these links ...




Glassmaking and Glassmakers Page (sha.org)


Bottle Bases Page (sha.org)


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## American (Mar 11, 2021)

Harry Pristis said:


> *I think the term is "wetted off," not "whetted off."  I believe the term derives from the dipping of the shears in water to chill them before touching them to the neck of the nascent bottle.  Thermal shock is what separates the bottle from the pontil rod.*


I get the spelling of whetting from "American Glass", George and Helen Mckearin, page 24, illustration 13.


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## American (Mar 11, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> Arrogance is such a wonderful partner. Don't you agree Hairy, oh by the way its a blow pipe not a rod.


Whoa, attacked on a bottle forum.  Trolls materialize everywhere on the internet.  Pick up a book, a pontil scar can be produced by a hollow rod, which can be described as such as well as a blow pipe.


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 11, 2021)

American said:


> Whoa, attacked on a bottle forum.  Trolls materialize everywhere on the internet.  Pick up a book, a pontil scar can be produced by a hollow rod, which can be described as such as well as a blow pipe.


Most of us know that American, this was a reply to a certain someones going off topic and nitpicking my thread earlier about rods and blowpipes. I started this thread just to start with some basics for the new diggers about pontils who are confusing ABM scars from machines as such. Didn't need to get into a lengthy discussion as you pointed out earlier.


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## SODABOB (Mar 11, 2021)

With respect to the McKearins and their numerous contributions to bottle collecting and researching, their use of the word "Whetting" with an 'h' was either a typo or they were misinformed. The term "Whet" or "Whetting" refers to sharpening something such as a knife. What some people refer to as a "Wet Stone" is actually spelled "Whetstone."   Regarding hand blown bottles, the correct term is "Wetting" or "Wetting Off."  


*1888*


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## SODABOB (Mar 11, 2021)

General interest ... 

Sometimes photos are better than words!  Double-click on image for closeup.  Notice the hole on the top of the mold,


File:National Bottle Museum; Ballston Spa, NY (35897031316).jpg - Wikimedia Commons


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## American (Mar 12, 2021)

SODABOB said:


> With respect to the McKearins and their numerous contributions to bottle collecting and researching, their use of the word "Whetting" with an 'h' was either a typo or they were misinformed. The term "Whet" or "Whetting" refers to sharpening something such as a knife. What some people refer to as a "Wet Stone" is actually spelled "Whetstone."   Regarding hand blown bottles, the correct term is "Wetting" or "Wetting Off."
> 
> 
> *1888*
> ...


Ok, I cry "UNCLE" to Uncle on whetting or wetting.  Moving on to "the tool" , which I forgot to mention is the pucellas, which is probably spelled wrong too, deserves exponentially more discussion, since the tool was always within easy reach of the glass blower.  It performed the bulk of the forming of the bottle or decoration after removal from the mold
O


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## treeguyfred (Mar 12, 2021)

Soda Bob! so glad to see you in here again! it's been awhile..
...and of course I had been gone for a several months too...
Still, a source of very clear and concise info! 
Thanks for the pics of the bottle making tools for the newbies and even some long timers
~Fred
p.s. I've been referring to the the BLM/Sha since the days of my Yahoo bottle group "Bottle Collectors", (well it wasn't mine to begin with but I did end up taking over the moderating from the Lady that was the founder and moderator) That was quite awhile ago. The website is dedicated to informing the public about antique bottles and clearing up many mistaken ideas and old misinformation. It's one of my faves.


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## SODABOB (Mar 12, 2021)

Howdy, treeguyfred

Thanks for the welcome.  I spend the majority of my time these days doing research and writing bottle related articles with members of the Bottle Research Group - which I am now a member of. They invited me to join about three years ago. Attached is an article that Bill Lockhart and I completed two years ago.  We have two more articles in the works that should be done and available for viewing next summer. The one I attached took us about a year to research and write. Check it out. 

I thought everyone might like to see these tools for a better understanding of what they look like. Photos like these are somewhat hard to find - especially of the Pontil Rod. If anyone can find a better photo of a Pontil Rod, please share it with us. 

Take care and be safe

Bob


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## treeguyfred (Mar 13, 2021)

Just got done reading your article Bob! Fantastic work by you and your partners! Funny thing about the article and the information in it... It's not my area of immediate interest, but I had an absolutely impossible to resist need to read it all and return to paragraphs, and recheck figures and images... It had me riveted to the computer for 2 hours!
Thanks for the work you and your fellow researchers toiled over. I look forward to more works!
(oh, and THAT's what you were doing for all that time  )
~Fred


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Mar 13, 2021)

We have entered the twilight zone long ago on what was original topic about ABM scars on bases being called pontils by new collectors. All very interesting side notes but off main topic, lol.


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## UncleBruce (Mar 13, 2021)

Feeling a bit ornery and slightly sarcastic I think we can just blame the UK for the misunderstandings for TERMINOLOGY.  Come on they call a car trunk a boot, an elevator is a lift, potato fries are called chips, a flashlight is a torch, and a dumpster is called a tip!!!  So Bob's your uncle... I mean brilliant... dang it, ... BBC has got to me.


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## hemihampton (Mar 13, 2021)

I think they call that a Hijack. some might call a Train Wreck?


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## East_Tn_Bottle_Guy (Oct 22, 2021)

Interesting posts. One question though. Do all blown in mold bottles have pontil, and I think I understood all pontil are blown in mold. Thanks.


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## CanadianBottles (Oct 22, 2021)

East_Tn_Bottle_Guy said:


> Interesting posts. One question though. Do all blown in mold bottles have pontil, and I think I understood all pontil are blown in mold. Thanks.


I'm afraid it's no on both counts.  Bottles made between the 1870s and 1910s or so are typically blown in mold but without a pontil.  Pontils were phased out long before the invention of the automatic bottle machine.  And all pontil bottles are mouth-blown, but not necessarily in molds.  Free-blown bottles typically have pontils too, although you're unlikely to frequently come across free-blown bottles in day-to-day collecting in East Tennessee because they were phased out in the earlier part of the 19th century.


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## UncleBruce (Oct 23, 2021)

East_Tn_Bottle_Guy said:


> Interesting posts. One question though. Do all blown in mold bottles have pontil, and I think I understood all pontil are blown in mold. Thanks.


Molds are actually still in use today.  With the advance of technology bottles are mass produced by machines using molds but no pontil is created in the machine process.  Free blown is making the bottle without using a mold and a pontil is created on the base from a punty rod, which is used to handle the hot glass after it is blown.  It is still an around as an art form, but these items are decorative in lieu of utilitarian.


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## slugplate (Oct 23, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> The early automated bottle making machines would put a kind of a circular mark on the base of bottles. See the photo below.  This circular mark happens on many machine made bottles and is cause by vacuum that the machines would use to control the handling of the bottle.  These marks are often confused with pontil scars, but are not the same.  Milk, soda and food products are some of the bottle types that will have these marks.  I'm sure there are more.  The photo below is from the base of an embossed milk.
> View attachment 220679


Is that also referred to as a valve mark?


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Oct 23, 2021)

Bottle 2 Rocks said:


> There seems to be a lot of new collectors who are confused what a pontil scar looks like or is. They seem to know its on the base of the bottle but after that they get a bit confused sometimes.
> Lets start with the open pontil which is probably the most common of pontil marks. The still in making bottle is put on the pontil rod with a blob of glass to hold it while the top is being made/tooled by the glassmaker, when done this rod is broken away leaving a sharp edged scar that would likely cut you if you ran your finger across it. Most dates point to 1845-1860 and some earlier for the use of this type, it is even still used today on blown art glass but some polishing often takes place on these newer vessels.
> The iron or graphite pontil is the easiest to distinguish because it looks like an imprint of a black or rusty doughnut, these were in use 1850's-1860's.
> There are other pontil marks but these are the ones most will see.
> ...


A donut of glass on the end of a blow pipe. That's why it looks like a hollow glass tube was broken off the bottom.
ROBBYBOBBY64


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## UncleBruce (Oct 23, 2021)

slugplate said:


> Is that also referred to as a valve mark?


That is made by certain types of machines when these handle the bottle.  Look a lot like an embossed circle. I see these on a lot of earlier milk bottles.


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## East_Tn_Bottle_Guy (Oct 31, 2021)

CanadianBottles said:


> I'm afraid it's no on both counts.  Bottles made between the 1870s and 1910s or so are typically blown in mold but without a pontil.  Pontils were phased out long before the invention of the automatic bottle machine.  And all pontil bottles are mouth-blown, but not necessarily in molds.  Free-blown bottles typically have pontils too, although you're unlikely to frequently come across free-blown bottles in day-to-day collecting in East Tennessee because they were phased out in the earlier part of the 19th century.





UncleBruce said:


> Molds are actually still in use today.  With the advance of technology bottles are mass produced by machines using molds but no pontil is created in the machine process.  Free blown is making the bottle without using a mold and a pontil is created on the base from a punty rod, which is used to handle the hot glass after it is blown.  It is still an around as an art form, but these items are decorative in lieu of utilitarian.


Thanks CanadianBottles and UncleBruce.


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