The Demijohn Page
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1a
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Demijohns
A demijohn is a large glass bottle used for transport or storage of liquids, often wine or spirits. These big bottles usually were given a protective jacket of wicker, osier, or raffia at the glass factory. Often this work was done by the family of the glass-blowers.
These bottles have been blown in glassworks in many places since commercial glass-blowing became economical in the 1700s. Glass demijohns came into wide use by the late 1700s and remained important in commerce through the early 1900s. Bottles of this period are of collector interest because each one is unique. Each is mouth-blown and hand-finished -- no two are exactly the same. This is industrial art with historical and aesthetic appeal.
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Demijohn 01 - Fourteen inches tall (about a gallon), sea-green, pontil-scarred base, applied lip, probably Continental in origin, mid-1800s.
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Demijohn 02 - Seventeen inches tall, black (olive-amber) glass, smooth base, sheared lip with applied string-rim. Flowerpot shape, English or American, early 1800s. (See Plate 269, Van den Bossche.)
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Demijohn 03 - Black (olive-green) glass, 13.5 inches tall, open or blow-pipe pontil scar, no mold-marks, probably American, late 1700s.
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Demijohn 04 - Black (olive-green) glass, 19 inches tall ovoid, smooth base, sheared lip with applied string rim, British or Continental, late 1700s.
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Demijohn 05 - Weak-shouldered cylinder, 12 inches tall (1 gallon), black (olive-amber) glass full of micro-bubbles, pontil-scarred base, applied and tooled lip, American, circa 1840-60.
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Demijohn 07 - Black (olive-green) glass cylinder, 16 inches tall (2 imperial gallons or just over 9 liters), dip-mold blown, rough open pontil scar, crude sloping collar lip, English origin, 1830s (the Imperial Gallon was adopted May 1, 1825).
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Demijohn 06 - Free-blown globe, 14 inches tall, olive-amber glass, smooth base, sheared lip with applied string rim, French or German, late 1700s to early 1800s.
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