Are These Old Bottles or Just Newer Decoration Ones?

[KevinM]

I recently purchased these two bottles and can't find any other ones like them through network and search engine image searches. Anyways, both of them seem to be hand blown, you can feel circle ridges down the sides. They both have lots of bubbles in the glass which appears to be Light Blue Cobalt in color on one and dark Blue Cobalt on the other. It's hard to see the Bubbles in the Dark Blue Bottle from these images I took but they are almost like the Light Blue Bottle with just about as many.

Both are just under 6 Inches in Height, The light blue bottle's top and lower rim are just under 2 Inches Wide and the Width of the Center is almost 4 Inches Wide. The Dark blue bottle's top rim is about 1 3/4 Inches wide and the bottom rim almost 2 Inches Wide.

What I would like to know is how old they might be, where they came from, who might have made them and any value other than what I paid for them.

Thanks!
Kevin

[greenacres]

There are bottles called "fire grenades". The shapes are similar, but the tops aren't right. I'm still checking my bottle books. I have many.

[KevinM]

Thanks for checking your books for me greenacres! I did show them to someone else and they said the same thing "fire grenades" but thought the glass might be too thick to be fire grenades.

[greenacres]

i don't think these are worth to much. There is no embossing and they are not pontiled. Target balls have seams they were made by machine and if they were blown they would show it on the bottom.The cobalt blue bottle is better than the aqua. Colors reign supreme., lol Maybe someone has another opinion.

[KC]

They sure seem thick for fire grenades.  But made in the same style!

[greenacres]

There is an antique bottle forum you could ask. I haven't been on it in a while. I have a lot of bottles, but we dig them up or find them in old properties.

[hosman321]

I'm 99 percent sure that they are modern art glass, probably made within the past 10 years or so. I have recently started collecting hand blown glass because it is so inexpensive and easy to find. I have found all of my pieces at The Goodwill. It's really hard to tell sometimes if it's brand new or old because the hand blown stuff is made in the manner that it was made 100+ years ago. They are beautiful and very collectible but I don't think they are old.

[KevinM]

Thanks greenacres and everyone else for your responses! I'm still not sure about how these bottle were made, they seem to almost be a hybrid of Blown Glass and Blown In Mold Glass. Although, only the bottoms look like they could have had some sort of mold to them.

The tops and the bottoms on the bottles are different sizes though, the Dark Blue bottle slightly smaller on the top and bottom than the light blue bottle. There are no seams on either bottle on the sides or top that would suggest a mold or Blown In Mold. The bottoms slightly show a hint of a disorganized mold perhaps.

I included a few more close up images, had to hit it with a couple of real bright day lighter bright white lights to try and get better detail.

Thanks,

Kevin

[hosman321]

They are really pretty, especially the cobalt one! I love cobalt blue glass and it's pretty hot right now. I'd say that they are worth about $15 for the pair of them. The color on your bottles is a lot richer than most I see. I'm not very familiar with glass blowing techniques so I'm not sure exactly how to tell if they were blown into a mold or completely hand blown. Would they still have a mold line if they were blown into a mold? Do they always have a pontil mark if they are completely hand blown? 

[mart]

There is a method to getting glass to bubble like that,, I think its by using salt which melts during the heating process and leaves all those bubbles.  Old glass would never have so many,, this was done on purpose just because its a neat look. Probably blown in mold then reheated to remove seam lines !!  Commonly used for a decorative piece !!

[greenacres]

Yes, The would have seams if it were molded. You can age bottles by their seam marks, whether their seam reaches the lip or not and things like that.

[greenacres]

This bottle needs to be cleaned better, but this is hat it would look like if the bottle as blown. Notice it doesn't stand straight.

[KevinM]

Thanks again everyone for the input! greenacres, that hat looks a bit different than on the bottles I have. I see your point, thanks! I think I'll just hold onto these bottle, I like them now and when I bought them. Just can't find another one like them...