Daguerreotype with Bottle, circa 1840

When was the last time you saw a photograph of a (now) antique bottle taken in the 1840s? I can’t imagine there are many such images in existence.

Right now on ebay is a “dag” of a man holding a bottle of WARE’S LOTION. The bottle appears to be an oval aqua bottle with flared lip and a wrap-around label. You cannot tell if it is embossed or not. Surely it would be pontiled if from this time period. I made a quick check in the Greer catalog of pontiled medicines and find another bottle (Lot 1720) which is embossed WARE’S LOTION OR PAIN EXTRACTOR. The bottle is rectangular and has a tapered lip and is 6-1/2″ tall. It’s listed in the catalog as extremely rare. It brought $170 in the auction in 1989.

It’s an incredibly cool historical piece for the antique bottle collector. I’m tempted to bid on it myself. We’ll see.

With 3 days to go in the auction, the bidding is currently at $320 and the auction has not yet made reserve.

View this Daguerreotype auction

Man with Ware's Lotion, circa 1840
Man with Ware's Lotion, circa 1840
Close up view of Ware's Lotion bottle
Close up view of Ware's Lotion bottle
Full view of Ware daguerreotypes
Full view of Ware daguerreotypes

 

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