The gothic style peppersauce was probably first designed in
the 1840's and became very popular with retailers until the 1880's. It was
produced in numerous glass houses in the East and Midwest. As would be
expected, stylistic variations are abundant, but the gothic arch panel is usually
the mainstay feature. The style was so popular that it was even produced by the
early San Francisco glass factories. This little California jewel is, in my
opinion, somewhat under-appreciated by collectors.
So far, the earliest documentation of this bottle that I
have been able to find is the 1869 Pacific Glass Works display at the
Mechanic's Institute Exhibition, when it was photographed along with many of
the company's wares. Having studied these bottles for many years I have noticed
several unique features that I would like to share and also, perhaps elicit
comments and observations from others who may have found these bottles
interesting. I am sure there are outstanding examples residing in western
collections.
My first observation is that there was only one pattern used
in their manufacture in San Francisco, and it is unlike any other design. In
other words it is only found in the western states. While it may be similar in
design to some of those used in the East, it is distinct in form. To think that
none of these bottles were ever shipped east is quite unlikely, however, they
are so common in the west that it is only logical to assume they were produced
in the west.
At first glance the pattern appears to be like many others
that are also found throughout the United States. The most significant unusual
feature is the simplicity of the top two sunken panels. All non-western
versions have slightly more embellishment in this area. The remainder of the
pattern is virtually identical to many of the eastern/mid-western counterparts.
To complicate matters just a little, the western design is
also found in two distinct molds, and with a corresponding distinct lipping
tool used with each of the molds. Both are shown above. It is probably
impossible to determine if the molds were used simultaneously, either by the
two major factories during the time, or at the same time by the same factory. With this in mind I will venture to predict
that the earliest mold, which I will call Mold One, pictured above on the
right, is probably the same mold that produced the bottle in the 1869 Pacific
Glass Works photo. The design of the side panels are nearly impossible to
differentiate between the two molds, however, Mold One has a unique base design
and lip finish. Mold Two is on the left.
The base of Mold One is characterized by an edge frame that
is not present in Mold Two. The central dome on the base is formed to create a
true "key" type mold, with the dome attached to one side of the
bottom, which forces the two mold halves to tightly align when the mold is
closed. Another unique characteristic of Mold One is located on the base on the
upper left of the above photo. This part of the mold seam is extra heavy and
this feature is found on all of these bottles that I have examined.
Mold Two, above, has its own unique characteristics and was
likely used over a greater period of time as the bottles are found with tooled
tops and in contexts that date to about 1890. Perhaps the greatest difference
between it and Mold One is that the base configuration is missing its surrounding
"border" and the central dome is a separate post piece, usually
referred to as a post mold. There are no unique or outstanding mold line
"fingerprints" on the base that could otherwise identify it.
As noted earlier, the lips of each mold are consistently
made with slightly different tool configurations. Keeping in mind that the
lipping process can produce somewhat inconsistent variations, a study of the
lip profiles reveals slightly different yet identifiable features. The lipping
tool for Mold One, on the right, reveals
a rather sharp edged skirt while the very top profile is more full and rounded.
The lipping tool for Mold Two, on the left, creates a more rounded skirt profile and the
topmost bulb is flatter across the top.
The last of the notable differences are contained within slight
inconsistencies along mold seams. Much like fingerprints, these differences are
unique to specific molds. The seams along Mold One are clean and show no unique
features except for one on the base, as noted above. Mold Two also produces fairly clean seam marks
on its bottles except for one feature on the shoulder and located just to the
left of the red marks on the above photo. Although small, and difficult to
photograph, this bump or protrusion of
glass is typical of all bottles blown in Mold Two.
The photograph above also shows the last of the bottles
blown in Mold Two (on right). By the
1880's the vibrance of our aqua western glass began to look like nearly every
other glass works product. As in the tooled top example of the Mold Two
peppersauce, probably made in the mid to late 1880's, the telltale signature of
the small bump on the shoulder still survives.
However, a most obvious variation to Mold Two is the
enlargement of the neck, which likely allowed for some relief to the age-old
problem of the contents becoming stuck in the bottle. The neck portion of the
mold was increased 3/16 inch which allowed for easier pouring.
With the described revealing features, along with the usual
but less consistent visual substance of western glass qualities, it is quite easy to identify these bottles.
The colors are the usual range of aqua found in western glass, even with an
exceptional western citron example sometimes blown in Mold One.
Eric McGuire
Eric,
Thanks for the informative and interesting article on these under appreciated western bottles - rs -
These bottles are certainly overlooked. How many have you seen in yellow or green ?
ReplyDeleteI have not seen one in green. I have seen one in a bright citron loaded with bubbles. It came in the door of the Northwestern Bottle Collectors show and sale in the 1960's at the El Rancho Hotel in Santa Rosa, CA. It was supposedly dug with about 20 others in Napa, CA, and was the only one with that color. It sold for $90 which was a huge amount back then. I would venture to say it could easily bring $3500 on today's market. I have no idea who owns it now.
DeleteAwesome article, Thanks for sharing. The 1st bottle I ever dug was a Pepper Sauce Bottle, I have Family from SW Louisiana (Go Saints) where the Peppers are Grown. I have maintained a collection of food type bottles since I started digging and still have many. Great Read.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any photos of a yellow western example ?
ReplyDelete