Topic: Bacchus...?

[alpha]

Seller says this bottle (sans stopper) is Bacchus. My vote is that it is not. Any thoughts?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250492939512

[Max]

Umm....the barcode?   :chky:

[tropdevin]

Hi Andy

Not the best images in the world, but I don't see any canes that shout 'Bacchus' at me.  If you check against my PCA Bulletin article, it could well be the wrong design of Queen's Head cane for Bacchus too, but it is not possible to be certain from the images. So I would vote Old English, yes,  Bacchus, no.

And where is the stopper...?

Alan

[Kari]

But what about the 8th photo and the one showing the base?  Isn't that one of those Queen Head canes- but in green?

[tropdevin]

Hi Kari

A Queen's head cane does not mean it is Bacchus - quite the reverse.  There are relatively few Bacchus weights with Queen's Head canes, and many more in weights by other makers.  I wrote a long and detailed article about this in the last PCA Bulletin.  As for the base, several Old English makers - and others - produced very neat bases - and I have have a Bacchus with an untidy base.

This bottle is one of those Old English pieces that people like to call Bacchus based on flimsy or mistaken evidence - I understand why, as some of the older books imply that any Queen's Head cane means Bacchus - but that did no harm to the price of the pieces the authors were selling, did it... :angel:

Alan

[Kari]

Thanks for clarification, Alan ~  Good to know if I am in a position of buying one like it in the future; I'd hate to make a mistake based on that misconception!