First Sunset it has seen in 160+ years

[UnderMiner]

My 1850's Pontil XX bottle just cleaned after being in ocean silt for over 160 years. The setting sun's rays pass through its glass for the first time in our modern post-civil war era. The last time this bottle saw the light of day slavery was still legal, Indians still roamed the plains, and Abraham Lincoln was but an aspiring lawer with political aspirations.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[Knut dirtfisk]

Awesome! Beautiful photo.

 

[fyrffytr1]

Tell us more about the bottle.

 

[UnderMiner]

Tell us more about the bottle.

Well thanks to tnet user Sandchip we have now positively identified the bottle as being made for Robinson, Charlesworth & Tryner of New York City some time between 1849 to 1856 or so. It most likely contained a soda of some kind. It was made using the iron pontil method where an iron rod was attached to the base as a glass worker shaped it in a two piece 'leaf mold' and then shaped the neck by hand before applying the top (called the blob) as a seperate piece of glass and moulded it into shape. When the bottle was cooling it was snapped off the iron rod which left a permanent scar on the bottom which is still sharp to this day. I can post pictures of the bottom for reference when I get a chance.