Topic: Small patterned flint glass bottle - but what is it?

[neilh]

Found this small bottle, missing stopper.
It is 4 inches tall, and is leaded flint glass with a density of 2.95g/cc which suggests mid Victorian.

But what was it for?
Scent bottle... perfume... phial... any guesses?

[NevB]

Part of a condiment set?

[Ekimp]

I get confused by the use of density as an aide to attribution. It is interesting, but sometimes density values seem to be used to indicate a region, and sometimes to indicate a time period (such as in this topic).

If the density varies by region but also the density changes over time in those regions, then you would need to know one of the variables before using the density to help determine the other?

So for the density of this item to indicate a time period (victorian), don’t you need to be sure of the region or factory? Likewise, when using density to indicate a region or factory, it follows that you would need to be sure of time period?

I can see how density can be used to rule out factories if it falls outside of the range ever used by a particular factory.

[neilh]

In general I would say it should be possible to estimate the date from a visual inspection of a piece to within 20 years in most cases. If you have density charts for the major British manufacturers, you can kick out certain regions in that date range. If it's not British you are a bit stuck. I'm putting together a book or two on Manchester glass so I have several hundred readings from the area, and a number from outside the area, and a few overseas. Barrie Skelcher did a lot of work in this area in his uranium books.

As regards this bottle, somebody has a similar one, but earlier, on ebay at the moment. They've called it a late Georgian or early Victorian scent bottle. I've also seen similar shapes called a pepper bottle, so it could be a condiment.