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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Connie on March 12, 2006, 10:50:55 AM

Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Connie on March 12, 2006, 10:50:55 AM
Am I correct that this is Victorian era?  It is not really what I consider mercury glass because the metallic coating is not sandwiched bewtween 2 layers of glass.  It appears to be flashed on the inside??  What kind of flowers are these?  Some type of trumpet flower of the nightshade? family.  They are a nice thick enamel.  The top of the bottle has cut oval windows.

 Perfume  (http://www.glassmavenhaven.com/connie/mercuryperf1.JPG)

 Enamel  (http://www.glassmavenhaven.com/connie/mercuryperf2.JPG)

 Cut Ovals (http://www.glassmavenhaven.com/connie/mercuryperf3.JPG)
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Anne on March 12, 2006, 01:21:53 PM
Connie the flowers look a little like foxgloves... they could be nightshade though.
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Connie on March 12, 2006, 01:31:24 PM
Anne - thank you.  They are foxgloves.  I knew  they were one of the  poisonous plants  :lol:

http://www.thebotanicnursery.com/foxgloves.htm
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Frank on March 12, 2006, 02:21:35 PM
Is there any marking on the metal?

Possibly letters B R or a logo with a winged head.
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Connie on March 12, 2006, 03:12:03 PM
Frank -

There are no marks at all.  I even looked again at the whole metal fitting with a loupe  :cry:

What is BR with a winged head mark?
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Frank on March 12, 2006, 05:31:12 PM
Rachmann Brothers, Haida. You scent is very typical of their work but I could not find an exact match in the one catalogue c.1900-1910. I have been hunting for an example for a couple of years and have to assume they did not mark anything, yours is the first that looks close. The were possibly only decorators and metal fabricators but there is little info available. One account described them as owning a glassworks and a metalworks and they went to Haida from Germany c1890. Unpleasant ending during WW2.

The cap is very close in shape and they did use a huge variety of flowers and cutting. However, not one piece mentioned silvering. It is a pity that the pump is missing as that might have fiven a better match.

Of course there would be several Czech decorating companies doing this type of thing at that time. I cannot see it being internally silvered as most perfumes would not react well to that! It must be double layer?
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Connie on March 12, 2006, 10:28:12 PM
Frank - You are probably right.  At first I think it was layered with the silvering sandwiched between 2 pieces of glass.  But there is damage to the silvering (which I know can happen to layered pieces also)  But when I peer into the top opening, I can see scratches in the bottom with light coming through.  It looks like someone tried to clean it with a wire brush :(

 The bad news  (http://www.glassmavenhaven.com/connie/mercuryperf4.JPG)

 More bad news  (http://www.glassmavenhaven.com/connie/mercuryperf5.JPG)

 The bottom  (http://www.glassmavenhaven.com/connie/mercuryperf6.JPG)

The glass outside glass is satin.
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Frank on March 12, 2006, 11:26:32 PM
It is not that bad news, if it is internally coated perhaps it was done later and needs removing :twisted:

But don't rush into doing that please! I am fascinated by what it could be. Will have a browse in some old books on the subject.
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Connie on March 12, 2006, 11:39:58 PM
I am in no hurry, Frank.  I am going our of town again tomorrow and I have  7 shipments to pack tonight, finish washing clothes, and pack  :lol:

I am curious if you find out anything about this piece.
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Frank on March 13, 2006, 09:02:19 AM
Hadjamach, British Glass p 286-7 describes a electrodeposition method that would be appropriate. As it can take up to 6 hours just to coat it would seem an expensive method of decoration for a scent spray!

Duthie, 1908, offers other possibilities: Silver leaf - impossible here, Chemical deposition - possible, silver-solution paint - possible, interestingly he does not refere to electrodeposition for silver but he does for gold.

The chemical deposition is achieved with a solution of silver nitrate and this was used for mirrors, replacing mercury from about 1840, the process is carried out at a temperaure of 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit. It is followed by a backing process - which could solve the contact with fluid issue. Backing is first a coating of shellac and then a backing made from pigments, turpentine and size. It should be easy to determine if this was the process use, were it not for the small opening, as the backing should be obvious from the inside.

If you have a friendly surgeon with a laparoscope you will be able to see inside, or a chemist to analyse a small scraping from inside :shock:

I would expect that you could restore the missing coating by use of some modern silver solutions from art shops, try on a jam jar first. It would be superficial, relatively harmless and give an aesthetically pleasing result. It  will also remain obvious on close inspection as the silver colour will not match the original exactly.

Replacing the coating is the other option but that would probably cost moer than the piece is worth.
Title: Mercury Glass Perfume
Post by: Ivo on July 07, 2006, 07:13:21 AM
Sorry I never saw it the first time around.

It is not double walled mercury glass as described in the article and which has been in production well into the 20th century, but single glass with an inside mercury coating. This must have been fixed in some way - probably by lacquer - because the coating is susceptible to oxidation, and the object would have been unusable with a straightforward single mercury coating. The lacquer would provide only a limited protection against wear, but silvered glass was never meant to last forever - even the makers considered it cheap & cheerful and they certainly did not produce for posterity. That is why it is now rare where at one time it was overabundant.

The polychrome decoration on the frosted outside  is typical for the cottage industry around Haida, and the item itself is probably part of a silvered toilet set. As it is not possible to produce double walled hollow vessels with a narrow neck (think thermos) the perfume (or is it powder puff?) was made in solid glass using the same finish and decoration as the rest of the set: a tablet, a beaker, comb holder etc.

The blanks for much of the silvered glass decorated around Haida were produced by Hugo Wolff.
Title: Victorian Mercury Glass Perfume Bottle
Post by: Connie on July 07, 2006, 09:05:43 AM
I still haven't added this to my website and I was doing more research on it.

I ran across this article by Ivo, Angela, and Diane Lytwyn.

Frank seemed to think the perfume has similar to Haida Bohemian work. But in the article, it says that the European mercury glass walls were thin and therefore enamel decorated. It said that American mercury glass was thick walled and had cut decoration.

My perfume has both cut ovals and enamel decoration. Do you think it is Bohemian or American?