Please Help ID a Black Glass Wine/Champagne Bottle - Looks Hand Blown

The Squire

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Jul 18, 2012
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Hello all,

I found this forum while trying to find info on this bottle base, so I signed up.

I found this very thick, very dark glass (no light comes through at all) base to a wine or champagne bottle in the Bahamas and was wondering if anyone could identify it. It is not perfectly round and has imperfections on the inside, so I assume that it is hand blown and not mass produced. The markings on the bottom are the Letters H and P. I've attached pics of the bottom and inside.

I was just curious and would appreciate any input!

Thanks

bottle bottom.jpeg bottle inside.jpeg
 

GaRebel1861

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It looks old to me but I do not think it is pontil (Hand blown) Someone else here maybe able to tell you more than I can. Good luck and find a whole one!
 

Harry Pristis

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It's not a wine bottle that I can recognize. The concentric rings would be very unusual for a wine.

It may well be British, from the second half of the 1800s. I seem to recall that there is a British sauce named HP Sauce, but most sauce bottles are aqua/colorless.

I am curious about the color of the glass (through the fractured edge in front of a bright light) and the outside diameter of the base.
 

Steve Works

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That doesn't look like a wine bottle. Maybe some special edition champagne or something similar.
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BVI Hunter

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It's not a wine bottle that I can recognize. The concentric rings would be very unusual for a wine.

It may well be British, from the second half of the 1800s. I seem to recall that there is a British sauce named HP Sauce, but most sauce bottles are aqua/colorless.

I am curious about the color of the glass (through the fractured edge in front of a bright light) and the outside diameter of the base.

HP Sauce bottles are square :thumbsup:
 

BVI Hunter

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It's probably safe to say that 20th century HP Sauce bottles are square; but, I don't know about 19th century examples. Are you arguing that no HP Sauce was ever put up in a round bottle? That would be a bold claim, and I would have to ask you for your evidence.

HP Sauce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BBC - Nottingham - History - A saucy tribute

HP sauce - invented in 1896 - original bottles square (but clear) - later bottles went to dark, now in squeezey!!

Don't get between a Brit and his brown sauce........:laughing7:
 

gleaner1

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The significance of HP is Harry Pristis :laughing7:. This thread is simply a comedy of coincidence. But one thing is for sure, that broke held some good frikin booze.
 

Kalik Gold

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It appears to be the bottom of a 3 part mold bottle from the 1830's - 1860's. The "H.P." more than likely stands for Highland Park, Old Scotch Whiskey.
We had a large presence of Scottish loyalists in the Bahamas that fled after the US war of Independence and that can be seen in many of the local settlement names today. Another key point would be which island it was discovered on? I have found many similar specimens, some from wine bottles and others from rum bottles many different time periods and types. This is the classic "Black Glass" bottle found all through the Caribbean from its rich drinking history. Hope this was helpful.
 

Harry Pristis

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It appears to be the bottom of a 3 part mold bottle from the 1830's - 1860's. The "H.P." more than likely stands for Highland Park, Old Scotch Whiskey.
We had a large presence of Scottish loyalists in the Bahamas that fled after the US war of Independence and that can be seen in many of the local settlement names today. Another key point would be which island it was discovered on? I have found many similar specimens, some from wine bottles and others from rum bottles many different time periods and types. This is the classic "Black Glass" bottle found all through the Caribbean from its rich drinking history. Hope this was helpful.

Here's an ale bottle with concentric circles on the base. No embossing, and it is 2.5" in base diameter. I wonder what the base diameter is of the base fragment in question.
ale_bottle_black.JPG
 

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