Dr H Van Vleck Family Medicine Pittsburgh PA 1850s Aqua Pontil Bottle Rare For Sale

Dr. H. Van Vleck’s Family Medicine – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Circa 1850sExtremely Rare early American embossed medicine bottle dating to approximately the 1850s.Front embossed:DR H. VAN. VLECK.S
FAMILY MEDICINE
PITTSBURGH. PA.Attractive early aqua round medicine bottle featuring an open pontiled base and an applied double-tapered lip/finish. The glass displays numerous characteristics of early hand manufacture, including bubbles, waviness, irregularities and crude character throughout.COLLECTOR / CATALOG RESEARCHDr. H. Van Vleck’s Pittsburgh medicines are documented in specialist Pontiled Medicines bottle-reference material. Multiple Van Vleck bottles are cataloged, including separate Dr. H. Van Vleck’s Family Medicine / Pittsburgh, PA variants.The reference records Van Vleck Family Medicine bottles in different sizes, colors, finishes and pontil configurations and classifies examples within the family from Rare to Exceptional, depending upon the particular variant and color.This bottle measures approximately 7 inches tall × 2½ inches wide, placing it close in size to one of the smaller documented Van Vleck Family Medicine forms. Because its approximate measurement and applied double-tapered finish do not allow me to conclusively assign it to one specific catalog number, it is being offered as a documented Van Vleck Family Medicine Pittsburgh pontiled bottle rather than claiming a specific catalog variant.The combination of the named Dr. H. Van Vleck’s Family Medicine embossing, Pittsburgh attribution, aqua glass, open pontil and applied finish makes this considerably more specialized than an unembossed generic medicine bottle of the period.CONDITION – PLEASE READThis is a dug bottle with significant condition issues, all of which are being disclosed.There is overall interior staining/haze.There is a crack extending through the pontil to both sides of the base. The crack then extends approximately ½ inch partially up one side before traveling back toward the base.There is also an approximately ¼-inch flat chip to the side of the lip, along with associated roughness on the top of the lip.Additional scratches, surface wear, mineral staining, bubbles, waviness and manufacturing irregularities are present consistent with its age, early manufacture and excavation.Please examine all photographs carefully, especially the close-up photographs of the open pontil/base, crack and lip. Photographs are considered an important part of the condition description.Despite the damage, this remains an unusual surviving example of an early embossed Pittsburgh medicine bottle with desirable mid-19th-century construction characteristics and a name represented in specialist pontiled-medicine bottle references.DETAILSApproximate date: Circa 1850sApproximate size: 7” tall × 2½” wideColor: AquaForm: Round medicine bottleEmbossing: Dr. H. Van Vleck’s Family Medicine / Pittsburgh, PABase: Open pontilFinish: Applied double-tapered lipOrigin: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USACondition: Dug; interior staining; substantial base/pontil crack; approximately ¼” lip chip and lip roughness – see photographs and complete condition description above.An extremely rare and historically interesting piece of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania pharmaceutical and pontiled medicine-bottle history.Bottle will be carefully wrapped and securely packed for shipment, with particular attention given to protecting the already damaged base and lip.