Demijohn Help

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

Picked this up cheap recently and figured somebody here could help me with it. Very crude and wonky neck and top with the neck all twisted and the top sloppily applied. The glass is full of bubbles and is a nice light olive. I'm skeptical of the age though. There's some wear here and there, especially on the base. I'm wondering if this is pontiled. The base appears smooth but in the middle there is an indentation that feels different, and there are a few chips of glass lodged in the base. The base is by no means rough, though. Is this some kind of pontil tipped with glass and so the mark was fairly smooth? I'm not sure what to think. Thanks! (Apologies for the indoors pics, it gets dark way too fast here haha)

 

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[cje]

That's a great looking piece of glass. Not much of an expert on demi-johns though.

 

[digging440yrs]

[video]http://bottlebooks.com/demijohn/big_bottles_big_history_demijohn.htm[/video] This will help you out

 

[Bass]

Great pick up on that piece. Harry will be able to help you with this one.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Nice find, Bottlehunter! Your demijohn is pontil scarred. This sort of scar is often described as a "sand pontil" scar. Some glass-makers used crushed glass as 'stickum' to attach the iron pontil rod to the nascent bottle. This crushed glass reduced the contact between the rod and the bottle, making it easier to separate the two. (Too much contact may take a large flake off the bottle when the rod is broken free.) What you see on your bottle are a few larger grains of crushed glass which adhered better than the finer grains.

Your demijohn has lots of character. I think it dates to a period which brackets our Civil War.

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

Nice find, Bottlehunter! Your demijohn is pontil scarred. This sort of scar is often described as a "sand pontil" scar. Some glass-makers used crushed glass as 'stickum' to attach the iron pontil rod to the nascent bottle. This crushed glass reduced the contact between the rod and the bottle, making it easier to separate the two. (Too much contact may take a large flake off the bottle when the rod is broken free.) What you see on your bottle are a few larger grains of crushed glass which adhered better than the finer grains.

Your demijohn has lots of character. I think it dates to a period which brackets our Civil War.

Thanks for all your help, Harry!!!

 

[RelicDude]

Nice Demi looks like a new England piece to me.

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

Anybody have any idea on value? I picked it up for $14

 

[epackage]

Anybody have any idea on value? I picked it up for $14

My 'opinion' is $125-150, good color and crudeness

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

My 'opinion' is $125-150, good color and crudeness

Sweet! Good news for me. Thanks for your help!

 

[Harry Pristis]

Anybody have any idea on value? I picked it up for $14

You did very well! These smaller demijohns don't bring the big bucks. I'd say a realistic retail value would fall in the $35 to $75 range. Because your bottle has desirable features and "character," I think you might expect a value at the highter end of that range.

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

You did very well! These smaller demijohns don't bring the big bucks. I'd say a realistic retail value would fall in the $35 to $75 range. Because your bottle has desirable features and "character," I think you might expect a value at the highter end of that range.

Nice! Thanks for your help, Harry! You're the man!