Glass Bottle: Thos. H Gill Fine Liquors

[Mike Buckley]

This bottle was tough to light. That's because there are three styles of embossing: one with painted letters, the store's address at the bottom that is strongly embossed but not painted, and a middle area of embossing also not painted that is so slight that it's hard to feel, much less read.

There are some abbreviations in the address at the bottom. They might confuse you as much as they initially confused me, so I'll explain them. The street address is "840 Nth Second St." "Nth" is an abbreviation for "North." "St" is an abbreviation for "Street." The city is "Philada," which is an abbreviation for "Philadelphia." That address is current in Google Maps but I was not able to find a photo that clearly indicates the current store front. I may be in Philadelphia in November, so I might check that out.

Setup
The tabletop is wood and the background is textured art paper that looks like textured plaster when lit this way and presented in this context. A flash light on the left side of the bottle shines toward the background. That light bounces off the background to light the tabletop and the inside of the bottle. A second flash light hand held above and slightly in front of the bottle lights its painted letters and embossing. A small continuous-light lamp shines through a sheet of translucent vellum on the right rear to add the reflection to the right side of the bottle. That reflection helps define its shape, especially at the top, and lights the embossed, unpainted "s" in "liguors." Parts of three captures were merged -- the bottle's shoulder and top, the rest of the bottle, and everything in the scene except the bottle.

[bje07]

Very, very , very well done, and thank you for the explanations

[bnnrcn]

A good photography lesson and a very nice image Mike

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

I finally figured out the embossing in the middle of the bottle that is so difficult to comprehend. It is a logo or some other kind of design of three ornate letters displayed on top of each other in a very complex style. The letters are T H G, which are an abbreviation of the name, Thos. H Gill.

[Manfred M]

At first glance, this looks like a rather ancient bottle - custom moulded bottles like that usually come from a much earlier age and I have found a few that remind me of that one on some of my dives. Bottoms of bridge where men would spend time drinking and then throwing their empties away was always an area of interest on bottle dives. I can't say I've ever seen one with paint on the raised lettering, as that is an expensive process that requires a lot of hand labour.

Based on your description, it sounds like this is a modern bottle? I look forward to reading what your research on this bottle turns up.

[Mike Buckley]

Based on the very cheap price, my guess is that it is either a relatively modern bottle or a mispriced bottle. Based on the quality of the hand painting, I also guess that it was not done as part of the manufacturing process and instead was done by someone sitting around the store or much later in someone's home who had nothing better to do. Just guesses, as I know nothing about bottles.

[madcrow]

Very nice and good capture

[Minerva]

Well done Mike

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Maurice and Carol!

I have created another image in a very different style that also includes this bottle.

[mugge]

Mike, your choice of the bottle itself is a unique one and this is another great image. Thank you also for explanation.
Cheers Ole