Who Collects Black Glass?

[Bass]

Harry, do you still do any diving ? Are the rivers in the Florida, S.C. area murky?

 

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[Harry Pristis]

Harry, do you still do any diving ? Are the rivers in the Florida, S.C. area murky?

I don't get in the water much anymore, Bass. SC coastal rivers make for really hairy diving. Florida rivers are usually much better, depending on the rain. However, there is no permit system in Florida for taking bottles from the state-owned river bottoms . . . any bottles we'd be interested in, anyway.

 

[Bass]

I know what you mean by the state claiming rights to artifacts in the waterways. I think we have the same law in Louisiana. Diving here would also be a bit hairy. I don't think you could see more than 2 ft in these rivers/bayous

 

[smokeythecat]

I have a few mainly 18th century. Nothing older. Two CW black glass bottles also. 2 mallets, a couple open pontil case gins, a few rev period cylinders, a couple dutch onions and one found in NC and one found from one of the wrecks off Yorktown (supposedly).

 

[Harry Pristis]

I know what you mean by the state claiming rights to artifacts in the waterways. I think we have the same law in Louisiana. Diving here would also be a bit hairy. I don't think you could see more than 2 ft in these rivers/bayous

Two feet in SC would be a blessing. Much diving there is done with NO viz. The beam of a six-cell underwater light is just an orange glow. Kept going back, though. I suspect LA diving might be no-viz also.

 

[Harry Pristis]

I have a few mainly 18th century. Nothing older. Two CW black glass bottles also. 2 mallets, a couple open pontil case gins, a few rev period cylinders, a couple dutch onions and one found in NC and one found from one of the wrecks off Yorktown (supposedly).

Show us. I'd really like to see the mallets.

 

[joeyfresh]

Two feet in SC would be a blessing. Much diving there is done with NO viz. The beam of a six-cell underwater light is just an orange glow. Kept going back, though. I suspect LA diving might be no-viz also.

I know a person who who pulled bottles from the sunken British ships off Yorktown. I would love to see pictures of your collection.

 

[john glassman]

Heres a pontil and refired pontil black glass from 1860

 

[Harry Pristis]

Here's a black bottle I photographed today. I think this one was blown in Stoddard, NH, about 1850. The glass is loaded with micro air bubbles best seen in the image of the base as tiny white flecks.

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[Bass]

Nice piece Harry. 1850 or earlier.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Thanks, Bass . . . You're right, that bottle could be from 1840s as easily as the 1850s.

Here's another demijohn from the same era which I photographed today. I think this is from one of the glass works in Stoddard, NH. The glass is full of micro air bubbles.

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[Bass]

Open pontil? Do I see residue?

 

[joeyfresh]

Great photos and of course beautiful bottles. Are you using a flash behind the bottles?

 

[Harry Pristis]

Bass . . . I think the pontil scar is from a well-executed sand pontil. The ring scar in that case may be from the unsanded margin of glass when the mushroomed rod was pressed to the bottom of the nascent bottle.

Joeyfresh . . . Thank you for the feedback. I use a radiograph viewer for the backlighting. It's mounted to a wall and has eight, color-correct fluorescent tubes for uniform lighting. I try to take images using only the backlight as often as possible (the full bottle in this case) . Flash enhancement leaves asterisms or flares on the shiny glass surfaces (the neck and lip in this case). Flash also highlights every tiny bit of dust or surface flaw.

 

[Bass]

When I first looked at it my thought was a sand pontil. The open ring threw me off

 

[Harry Pristis]

Okay! Who has acquired some black glass bottles over the summer?

Here's one to get re-started:

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[Harry Pristis]

No one has a black bottle to show us?! I guess all the black glass is in the basement, sealed up in re-cycled liquor boxes. I don't have a basement, so here's another pair of bottles:

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[Bass]

Sorry Harry, I haven't acquired any new pieces. I certainly admire yours.

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

Hey Harry, this was my only black glass acquisition over the summer. I posted it a while ago but I don't think you saw it. I guess it's an onion bottle top but I'm unsure of where it could be from. Found it in the mud, no other pieces.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Ooooh! English onion . . . and an early one! 1710-20s, I think.

Here's one I found:

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This is a bottle I found years ago on the bank (private property) of the Suwannee River on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The bottle is an English onion from about 1700 (+/- 10 years).

At that time, the only European settlement in peninsular Florida was Spanish St. Augustine on the Atlantic Coast. At the same time, English soldiers and slavers from the Carolina colonies were wiping out the Spanish missions to the Indians in the interior of the state. By 1710, the aboriginal Indians in North Florida had either moved westward out of Florida or were living in the immediate area of St. Augustine.

So, was my onion bottle brought to this remote area on the Gulf Coast of Florida by English soldiers and slavers? Maybe. This river does reach the area of the Spanish missions, and rivers were the routes of access to the interior.

But wait. At this same time, William Teach, the famous English pirate known as "Blackbeard" is reputed to have sheltered in the river. My onion bottle was found not far from the place where local lore holds that Blackbeard buried some treasure! The latest effort to locate that treasure toke place in 2012!

Wooden vessels were sailed up freshwater rivers in order to careen them. The sailors would tie ropes to trees on the bank and use winches to tip the ship. Once the hull was exposed, the sailors would scrape away the marine growth. Then they reversed the ship to clean the other side of the hull.

A clean hull meant less drag in the water. Less drag meant greater speed. Speed could be crucial if you were a pirate. Blackbeard was slain in 1718 in a fight with a British warship off the coast of Virginia.

So, was Blackbeard the last person to drink from this onion bottle? Maybe. It's fun to think about it.

---------------Harry Pristis