Description:
Dark green blown glass, mallet-shaped, round wine bottle with a long tapered neck, deep rounded kick on base, and an applied circular seal on the side impressed "Roger / Oxenham / 1731". Dwight P. Lanmon, Roger Dumbrell in "Understanding Antique Wine Bottles" and Sheelah Ruggles-Brise in "Sealed Bottles" list a "Roger Oxenham. 1731." Personalized bottles with seals (glob of glass impressed with a name/date), such as this example, cost the consumer up to 1 1/2 times as much as the unmarked versions. In the early 17th century, English glass manufacturers perfected a "black glass" that was suitable for making sturdy bottles for the domestic and export market. The dark color of the glass (a result of iron impurities in the sand source and the sulfurous fumes from the coal to fire the glass furnace) protected the contents from spoilage. Wine bottle was a generic term, for such bottles held porter, ale, beer, distilled liquors, fortified wines, and a variety of spirits. English bottles typically have a dark olive-green color, large sandy pontil mark, high kick or push-up base, thick walls, and an applied string finish to the lip. Two glass bottles were listed in the 1690 inventory of Benjamin Barrett (1653-1690) of Deerfield, who is described by George Sheldon as a "carpenter and soldier under Capt. Turner, 1676."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+58.135 |
