Antiques

Bottles since ages have been used to hold liquids, medicines, beer, fruits, jams and many more contents. Old bottles have always fascinated people who are admirers. Collecting ancient and vintage bottles has become a hobby and a large number of people pursue the same. There are several reasons why antique bottles are a fascination and they are as follows;

Antique bottles are old and were made by hand and not by machines. Bulk manufacturing was not even known during that period. The value of the bottle also depends on its rarity and the period for which it remained in a good condition. The number of rare bottles is not very large and hence they are extremely valuable. Antique bottles were manufactured in all shapes and sizes. A bottle shaped in a bizarre way is more appealing than a square or a round one. Flasks found in myriad colors and shapes interest many people.

Earlier bottles made were very crude in appearance. And this crudity has become the major cause of the popularity of the antique bottles. Quality was of foremost importance rather than its aesthetic aspects. Also usefulness was very important and hence an unparalleled beauty and aura of the bottles was created which cannot be created by machines. Hence antique bottles have a different aesthetic aspect.

Antique bottles have a number of variations in respect of material. Some bottles are made of pure glass, some mixed with other materials, some having protruding designs and many more such creations. The more disfigured and crude the bottle is, the more is its value. Sometimes the name and all the other details of the original owner of the bottle is also engraved on it which further increases its value. Color of these bottles also plays a very important role. The antique bottles were made of several distinctive color combinations. Such colors cannot be found today as the bottles are machine made.

People collecting antique bottles prefer to store the bottles in an ordered way. That is using some nomenclature or symbols. This helps them to identify the era from which the bottle is, its importance and many other more details.

The earliest bottles were found to have originated in the year 1790 in Europe. Since then a number of variations have been made to manufacture bottles in terms of size, shape, color and material. Later the automatic bottle making machine was invented and these man made bottles became antique pieces. Antique bottles have a subtle value and hence are popular.

Antique bottles have found their place in the homes of many popular and rich people. The value of these bottles is estimated from their age and quality. Various web sites host bids to sell these valuable antique pieces. Different auctions are also held to exhibit and sell the bottles. European countries in large hold such auctions. People from different places of the world attend these auctions in the interest to get hold of these invaluable pieces which remind them of the glorious and precious past.

Antique bottles are a colorful, fun and affordable way to get into antiques collecting or even an antiques business. There are, as with many kinds of antiques, shows, clubs, magazines, books, auctions, specialty shops and online sources for information and acquisition of antique bottles. And within the category of antique bottles there are plenty of sub-categories to choose from if you need to narrow your field for collecting because once you get active in the antique bottle world, you could quickly be overrun with antique bottles. Many collectors of antique bottles limit the kind of antique bottle they collect. But if you end up with too many antique bottles, you could go into a business of buying, selling or trading with other antique bottle collectors or the public at large, because antique bottles are useful beyond the fun of collecting.

some of the types of antique bottles that you might be interested in and that could be used for home decorating or for other uses are, flasks, perfume bottles, ink bottles,apothecary bottles, certain colors of glass bottles like cobalt or black, barber bottles, bitters bottles, medicine bottles, poison bottles and some people even collect old Coca Cola bottles as a hobby or for investment. I knew a young man that began his antique bottle collecting by digging in the woods near his home and unearthing antique bottles and jugs that are still in his family two generations later.

Digging is actually one of the main ways that serious collectors of antique bottles actually acquire their bottles. There are certain rules of safety, law and etiquette around the art of digging for antique bottles. Some rules are basic and should be observed such as not digging alone. Don’t leave broken glass exposed. bury it before leaving a site, know the laws if you are hoping to dig in a dumping area, take a first aid kit to a dig as glass can cause cuts and do not smash unwanted glass that others might injure themselves on. These and other rules can be found in books about antique bottle collecting and digging or from websites that experienced diggers have set up.

Antique bottles are found in countries all over the world and antique bottle enthusiasts gather to share information show off their collections and to buy sell and trade their treasures. Antique bottles come in all sizes, shapes and colors. They can be decorated with embossed hallmarks that can make them very valuable and the better condition they are in, the more the bottle can be worth. It would take someone years and years of study and research to learn all about antique bottles, but the topic and the objects are fascinating and antique bottles through history paint a very interesting picture. Whether you are an antique bottle collector or you just happen to run across one, antiques would make a great gift for someone in your life as a flower vessel or just a pretty colored glass decoration for their home.