Topic: Large Old Bottle - Possible Mid 19th Century - Onion Bottle - Continental..?

[Greg.]

Hi,

Any thoughts appreciated regarding the below bottle.

I'm believe it to be mid 19 century in date, the bottom has a kick up but no pontil mark. Brown/black in colour with some tarnishing when viewing close up. Fairly large, just over 15 inches in height.

Thanks,
Greg

[glassproblem]

Hi,

I had one of these at one time.  Probably French.  Mid-19th century, as you guessed.  There is no pontil because they broke them straight off the rod with no further tooling.  Hence the rough lip.  These were multi purpose storage bottles, but often used for wine.

For examples see Antique Glass Bottles by Willy Van den Bossche.

Nice bottle.

Frank

[Greg.]

Thanks for your comments Franck, much appreciated. I did wonder what their specific purpose was as I have come across a number of different suggestions. However, as you say the reality was that they didn't have any specific purpose and their use was multi purpose.

Thanks for the book details, I'll try and get hold of a copy.

Greg :thup:

[glassproblem]

Utility bottles are what we call generic use bottles in the States.

I absolutely recommend Willy's book.  Its a beautiful work, and the only one I know that covers European bottles in depth.  Its just not cheap.