Here is a Dr. Henley's Wild Grape Root IXL Bitters that seems like an oddball. At first it appears to be a crude, bubbly "First Circle" IXL which was actually the second IXL after the "non-circle". The first circle IXL's were used in the early 1870s, and over the next 25 years, there were all kinds of different embossing patterns. This example however is the first circle variant, and is obviously a later blown specimen as the embossing is not crisp or bold...here is the odd part...this one has a neatly tooled top. I know that for the most part, tooled IXL's are scarce, but this mold is an early mold of IXL's and every example of this mold I have ever seen has an applied top. There are at least four later produced molds, and the later molds occasionally can be found tooled, but not the second version of the IXL.
I have compared this one to my green first circle, and the embossing is identical...definitely the same mold. I wonder if in the 1880s the old mold was used again for some reason? Maybe in 1873 the "tooled top training" was being conducted, and a few were blown this way? I have no idea, but as Richard S. recently told me, "Once you think you have seen everything, you see something different".
At first inspection of your pics I wondered if you were possibly looking at a very neatly applied laid on ring, since there are vague horizontal lines above and below the ring. Closer inspection clearly reveals that you are certainly right, with stretched neck bubbles flowing right into the ring! The vague horizontal lines appear to be tool marks. So now that I clarified what you already knew, I’ll proceed. :-)
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that it appears they pulled an old worn mold off the shelf, but why? Maybe while temporary repairs were being made on a newer one? Maybe a huge order needed to be filled by a deadline? As we know, in addition to molds wearing out from continued use, any mold releases used can clog up the embossing, especially the inner sharp corners. The sharp cornered details of the lettering are clearly gone on your tooled example and they appear rather widened. Maybe there was a half-hearted attempt to clean or route out the embossing to reuse this old mold, causing the widened letters? After inspecting a few dozen blown samples they realized the embossing was too weak to their liking and forever ditched this old worn mold, thus very few examples actually existed? Or maybe I’m way off on all accounts?
Whatever the case, it's an oddball for sure. Love that crudity!
I know there has been a lot of talk about molds wearing out since I started collecting 40 some years ago. But let's take a realistic look at this "mold wear out" Do you really think blowing a molten liquid into a cast iron mold "wears it out"? Do you realize how hard cast iron is. I would think the major reason molds were replaced was from being damaged by dropping them or other types of damage that could happen in a busy crowded factory. Take a look at the patches and repair marks on a lot of bottles we collect.
DeleteThe flat worn out looking embossing on some bottles could result from several different reasons. Under blowing, over blowing, too much release agent in the mold etc.
Start thinking inside the box on this worn out mold stuff
rs
It’s my understanding that there can be many factors involved in the degradation of a mold surface. Surface irregularities can occur by natural oxidation from the excessive temperatures. Then there’s surface corrosions from additives and chemicals added to the glass. Surface stress and checks can also occur from the repeated thermal shock of the molten glass. In the case of a mold that might be shelved for a lengthy period without proper protection, rust could eat at the surface, especially in a moist air environment (such as S.F.). I would say all this can be defined as ‘wear’ of a mold surface, but the process might be more properly stated as a ‘deterioration’ or ‘erosion’.
DeleteModern mold making has come a long way, with various methods of lining molds with more resilient materials. Most molds from our collecting period were simply machined from raw steel or cast of iron, leaving the surfaces exposed to the fierce elements of glass making.
Of course, we must always consider improper temps of molten glass for causing surface crudity and weak embossing. If the glass is not flowing properly into the embossing cavities, weak, rounded-off embossing can occur. I’m one that openly accepts thinking inside AND outside the box. :-)
Exactly the reaction I was fishing for. I agree with "deterioration and/or erosion' as the reason for the mold "wearing out". Not the act of blowing glass into the mold. I am not trying to split hairs but the mold wearing out (because of blowing glass into it) issue gets my goat as much as the wooden whittle mold theory.
Deleters
Interesting discussion...it would seem that the hard surface of iron or steel should not be affected by a much softer substance than molten glass, however over time and thousands of repetitious impacts with almost any surface it would seem possible of some wear to occur. My mother would not let me cut paper with her good scissors when I was a kid, and my expensive German knives become dull after relatively short exposure to meat and vegetables. It's funny, but reality. The last elk I skinned with a custom hunting knife required multiple sharpenings to get the job done,and one can surmise that extremely hot glass which primarily consists of sand at mega hot temps might have this effect on a sharp edge of a metal mold embossing engraving. In any case, the top on this example is 100% tooled and whenever it was blown, was done at a time where tooled tops should have been an innovation for the IXL bitters whose time had not yet come. DM
ReplyDeleteHistory lesson on iron and steel in the mid 1800's. Before the 1880's, the majority of factories used what was called "pig iron" in machinery, tools and possibly glass molds. This pig iron is a softer iron than today. It was easy to cast and mold into just about anything. It was also easy to engrave into. After several uses with high temp. the metal will start to brake down or warp. This would cause irregularities or damage to the mold, which you would see in glass bottles. They stoped using pig iron around the early 1880's. Now thats thinking outside the box you guys.
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion. I’d agree that over time iron molds did wear out mostly due to the metal breaking down from heat exposure & use. Another interesting observation is this; On a rare bottle the seam lines are generally very tight and in some cases barely visible whereas on common bottles their usually quite pronounced. This can likely only be attributed to how much a particular mold was used. I also think that the rounding or flatting of embossing resulted from mold use similar to the seam in the side of a bottle.
ReplyDelete