John Root's Bitters bottle

[reapwood]

I found this bottle and I am wondering if it is worth anything. Anyone want it. Make an offer. John Root's Bitters 1834 Buffalo, N.Y. are embossed in the glass and it's 10 1/4 inches tall and about 3 inches wide. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[maineahh62]

hello reapwood, i am not an expert on bitters but i am sure there are some member's who are, here is a site i found with the help of google, and some of what it had posted.

1834 JOHN ROOT'S BITTERS

Blue-green 1834 JOHN ROOT'S BITTERS / 1834 BUFFALO, N.Y. sold on eBay by simonsays for $2,000.

 

[deepwoods]

Reap-Your speciman appears to be aqua,which,according to my sources is even rarer than the blue-green-dont sell it too fast.

 

[BRIAN S.]

Hello Reapwood !
Nice Bitters you have there !
It looks like it is an Aqua coloration from your pic.....And your mold variant has the Buffalo , N.Y. embossed on one side panel which makes your bottle the Ring & Ham's R 90.4
JOHN ROOT'S BITTERS // sp // BUFFALO , N.Y. // u // f // 1834 // f // 1834
Deepwoods is not correct on the rarity of the Aqua coloration in this mold. Coloration in this mold are listed as Blue-green , Green , Aqua , Clear -Very Scarce . Amber and Amethyst - Rare.
I believe the mold variant that deepwoods was confused with is the Ring & Ham's R 90 which is embossed with JOHN ROOT'S BITTERS on both side panels.And it does not have Buffalo , N.Y. on one of the side panels. The R 90 JOHN ROOT'S / BITTERS // sp // JOHN ROOT'S BITTERS // sp / is only listed in Aqua and this mold variant is listed as Extremely rare.
Deepwoods did you get your reference from thebottleroom.com ? The Aqua pictured there I used to own and the website owners are mistaken in there description of the bottle as it is the more common Aqua R 90.4. See your Ring & Ham's book !
Reap.....Don't get me wrong , you have a great Bitters Bottle ! And my estimate on value would be from the 900.00 to 1500.00 dollar range if it is damage free .
I sold a Blue green R 90.4 example at the National in Louisville 2200.00 . And I bought my Aqua from a Penna. dealer for 900.00 . The Blue green is a much more desirable coloration for this bottle and although it is not any more common in Aqua .....They just don't bring the $$$ that a Blue green example does. Supply and demand.....Seems color is everything these days !
I would be interested in purchasing it from you if you decide to sell it. And if it is damage free ( No chips , No cracks , No dings or bruises, ect., ect. ) I hope this info helps and NICE BOTTLE ! Brian

 

[deepwoods]

Yep Brian-My bad-as they say.I was in such a hurry to give our friend the good news,I did a mind gloss on the mold difference.I did a quick dip in my Megura book-I dont have the great Ring-Ham book yet.Its those subtle nuances that will get you sometimes.Like you say,still a great bottle though.

 

[reapwood]

Thank you deepwoods and Brian. You guys have made my day. I think I need to take a couple more pics of the bottle. The color looks different in different light. Someone told me I should shoot the picture against a white background to see the real color of the bottle in the pic.
I'll do that and post a new picture of it. I would like to sell it. It seems to me to be in excellent condition. It actually had some contents still in the bottle but whatever it was turned into a sticky white gum that I had trouble getting out. Now I wonder if I should have left it in. Oh well...

Picture cropped and reduced in size - please see Help - Using the Forum ---> Uploading a Picture - Admin

 

[BRIAN S.]

reapwood,
It looks Aqua to me in your pic . And it won't hurt to remove the white stuff if you didn't scratch the inside of the bottle with a piece of wire or something. I have seen people ruin a good bottle by trying to remove stuff from the inside with a wire or some other foriegn object.
I would be interested in purchasing it from you . Just send me an email . Thanks , Brian