Coral stopper set in a brass collar (not original and new), and with a brass spoon.
Paul,
Thanks for coming back around to this bottle. When purchased I knew that the stopper and spoon were contemporary and thus I was second guessing whether the bottle was new or not. New or old the quality of the bottle itself was worth the purchase price of $800 US in my opinion. Once I started ignoring the stopper and concentrated on the bottle itself I formed the following thoughts or opinion:
1) the shape was right;
2) the detailing in the carving and design are of the highest quality;
3) the color appears to be appropriated for an early period bottle;
4) the snowflake glass is of uniform density and high quality;
5) the base of the bottle within the foot ring contours to match the bottle shape (meaning it is slightly peaked in the middle and carved lower along the inter edge of the foot ring); and
6) it has a high quality, smooth, polish over the entire surface, even into the crevices of the Chi dragons.
Someone spent a lot of time trying to make this bottle perfect.
With an assessment of all the “rights” once the stopper was excluded, I made the presumption that it was indeed an older bottle (i.e., possibly late 18th or at least early 19th century). To verify I did take the bottle to the ICSBS convention in Chicago this last October. Joey saw it, and I had a couple of dealers inspect the bottle. All concurred that the bottle was of the highest quality for glass and has all the features of an early period bottle. Thus the conclusion was is per Joey’s dating period. Though the presumption is that it is indeed old, no one could emphatically deny that it was not new.
Unless you have a clear line of documentation of a bottle’s origin or early collection provenance, it tough to actually confirm whether such a bottle is indeed old or new. But for now I going with Joey’s (and others) dating of this bottle, and liking it!
Charll
