Topic: Interesting Bristol Blue Glass dECANTER/bOTTLE ???

[LEGSY]

Recently bought this piece of Bristol Blue and wondered if somebody has
any ideas as to its use it is quite small like 4 3/4" in height and maybe a
miniature decanter or something like a trades mans sample? The well made
rings are hand made the stopper is solid mushroom shaped. The base is polished.
All seems original and fits together perfectly any ideas on age use or where it was
produced? please thanks for your time

[Steve in Cumbria]

I'd say c1800, but could be a little earlier.

As for use, obviously too small for a wine or spirit decanter... I wonder if it may have been a cruet bottle?

Any sign that it may once have had gilded lettering?

[Ekimp]

Interesting looking decanter. It looks quite unusual to me.

The rim looks like it maybe applied like the neck rings, is this the case? Normally the rim is formed from the neck not applied separately. The proportions of the neck also look a bit odd….almost like a three ring decanter that has had the rim and top of the neck cut off, cut down to the top neck ring to form a new lip. Has the top been ground flat at all?

I’m not sure the stopper is right either, the peg sits slightly too high in the neck - you can see the top of the peg sticking out.

It might just be an unusual and interesting decanter (rather than one with issues)

In The Decanter, McConnell says about miniature decanters that other than use as cruets etc, from about 1830 they were also used to “cater for those who preferred whisky to port after dinner”. Presumably the port drinkers were in the majority and shared a large bottle.

[LEGSY]

Thank you both for some good information to chew over
the decanter has no remnants of gilding
on any part of the bottle The bottle i would say is a fair amount heavier than the usual cruets
with the gilt labels it also was not cut or ground down i thought that when i saw it but on closer look
it is quite unusual i will try and explain although my writing is not the best. The three applied rings are
fairly Naive or Primitive in the application and design, Starting from the middle ring on the
bottle i noticed that the thickness of the bottle became a lot thicker i found this out we my pinky so
 this thickening as we approach the top is then capped off with the top ring which has been flattened to
create a kind of rim that you might expect on a decanter no grinding on this section at all but a little bit
on the inside to fit the stopper as might be expected this  fits fine and with two turns will lift the bottle too.
Might be a country piece possibly similar to Nailsea or Wrockwardine rather than a big glass house piece??
either way i am quite delighted i love wonky pieces and the likes thanks for helping.

[Steve in Cumbria]

The only other thing I want to mention, is those neck rings; not seen those on any cruets that I've looked at, so appears to be trying to be a mini decanter.

Interesting piece 

[Ekimp]

Thanks for checking the neck. Although the finish of the rings looks quite crude, the base is well finished.

I have been through McConnell’s The Decanter and can’t see anything quite like it.

Some of the old wine type bottles have an applied rim or string ring. The only type of decanter that looks to have an applied rim are bar decanters (mainly American). McConnell calls it a ‘bar-lip’. These were standard type decanter shapes but with a thick applied lip to better resist chipping/damage. The bar decanters shown are from 14cm to 28cm tall without stopper and the applied lips look quite substantial.

Your decanter does look quite sturdy and resilient. Maybe being small, yours was for hotel rooms or something?