I scrolled down the entire list of comments and did not see the answer that is obvious, so will try to give it the once over here: Yes, it is a Boston and Sandwich Perfume bottle, and I have the exact same perfume bottle sitting about 5 ft. from me right now, only mine has a nice bright finish on it, and yours is literally and figurative SICK. This happens to glass when it has been stored someplace for a long time (like 20 or 3 years) due to being kept in a damp place (like a basement) and most likely wrapped in newspaper to 'protect' it from dings. The dampness of the basement in conjunction with the newspaper (which easily absorbs moisture from the damp air), conspired to give your wonderful perfume bottle a sickness for which there is no cure. The bottle is actually etched and no amount of cleaning will cure it. It is not a water stain like on the inside of a vase that has been used repeatedly and not cleaned properly. This is something totally different. I suspect if you could see inside the bottle, it would not be etched inside. The stopper was probably stored in place in the base of the bottle. There was also no newspaper in contact with the inside to keep it constantly damp. It takes lots of years to make this happen. By the way, for it's size, it is a pretty heavy bottle, and it is a high lead content. From what I have found, it had about a 40% lead content in the batch formula.
On another note, there is a power seller from Canada who occasionally has some vaseline glass in their auctions. they had a very nice perfume bottle (in shape and age) that they probably listed 5 times on FeeBay and never sold it. It too was sick glass. This seller typically has about 5 or 6 WORDS total to describe a piece and hopes the photos sell the item. The description was SAND URANIUM GLASS or some such rot. It was a good description, as the surface feels almost like it has been tumbled in sand for, oh, say, about 2 years, but in reality it was just damaged glass. A good perfume bottle like mine (with matching numbers on stopper and base) will sell for $250-400 US. In the condition yours is in, I think you would have to take off about 90% of that price to get it sold.
Whenever I see a piece that looks 'SICK' on ebay, I always ask the seller the condition of the surface and whether the photo is a true representative view of the piece. If it has been etched, I don't look at it again.
Dave Peterson
aka: Mr. Vaseline Glass
p.s. this is not just a problem with vaseline glass. It can happen to any glass stored a long time, in newspaper, in a damp location. For long term storage, attics are good, basements are bad!
Mod: Seller's ebay name removed, under GMB board policy.
Topic: Boston & Sandwich? Vaseline bottle - pitting. (Read 6460 times)
