 One
of the best ways to identify bottles manufactured before 1840 is the presence
of a "sheared lip". This type of lip was formed by cutting the
bottle free of the blowpipe with shears, leaving it with a "stovepipe"
look. The bottle to the left is similar to what a sheared lip would look
like, with the exception of the applied lip on the very top of it. Notice
the arrow is pointing to where the mold seam stops. Refering to fig. 1
on the previous page , if the mold seam stops where
the neck meets the body of the bottle, it is probable that this bottle
was made before 1860. And the fact that it's an applied lip rather than
a sheared lip indicates that made after 1840. So just with the information
I've given you so far, you can safely assume that this bottle was made
between 1840 and 1860.
Here are a few more examples of tops and lips: |
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 Once again, notice the mold seam. This is known as an applied flair lip. (1840-1860) |
 This is a "rolled lip" on a blown glass wine bottle. (1800-1820) |
 These are soda bottles with, what are commonly referred to as "blob tops". (1800-1860) |
