Historical information

This olive green glass bottle has been handmade from about the 1840s to 1870s. The bottle, possibly used to store or soda or mineral water, was found in the coastal waters of Victoria. It is part of the John Chance Collection.

Glassblowers made bottles like this one by blowing air through a long pipe into the molten glass blob at the end of the pipe. The glass was blown out to fit into the shape of the cylindrical dip mould. Once it hardened, the glass was removed from the mould and the glassblower would continue using the pipe to create the neck while carefully using a tool to hold the base. A 'ponty' tool would have been used to form the push-up base. The mouth of the bottle was cut off from the blowpipe and a piece of soft glass would be added to the mouth to then form the collar. Bottles like this would usually be sealed with a cork.

Significance

Although this bottle is not linked to a particular shipwreck, it is recognised as a historically significant example of handmade, 1840s to 1870s beverage bottles imported for use in Colonial Victoria.

The bottle is also significant for its association with John Chance, a diver in Victoria’s coastal waters in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Items that come from several shipwrecks have since been donated to the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village’s museum collection by his family, illustrating this item’s level of historical value.

Physical description

Bottle, olive glass. Applied straight lip with bumps and bubbles. Shoulder seam. Body tapers inwards towards base. Heel has uneven thickness. Concave push--up base. Some imperfections, blow lines and scratches in glass.