Pontil Bottle LYNCH CLARK SARATOGA NYs Earliest Spring 1820 Deep Golden Amber

Description

Offered Here is a an Original, Antique, 1820-30's Mold-Blown and Lightly "Pontil-Scarred" Pint-Size Cylindrical State Mineral / Spring-Water Bottle from Saratoga Springs N.Y..
The Squat-Shaped Bottle Features Sloping Shoulders and a Great Looking "Applied", Double-Collar Top which is Very Crudely Hand-Formed and has Lots of Great Looking Unevenness and Imperfections. The Color is a Deep Golden-Amber with Fiery Tobacco Amber Tones when Held Bright, Direct Sunlight.
The Bottle is Horizontally Embossed on the Front-Side w/ "LYNCH & CLARKE / NEW YORK" in Great Crude, Crooked Early-19th. Century- Style "Font" Letter Characters. The Glass is Exceptionally Thick and is Somewhat Unevenly Blown with Nice and Looks like a Typical Squat-Style "Stubby-Ale-Bottle" of the Period in Many Ways.
These Lynch + Clarke / Saratoga N.Y. Bottles Represent the Earliest Attempt to Bottle + Market the Famous "Healing" and Ultra-Mineral-Rich Effervescent / Sparkling Waters of the "CONGRESS SPRING", which is Situated in the Ground, Deep Below the Town of Saratoga Springs New York. John Clarke was an Early and Prominent Businessman who Started the Business and had Many Business Partners Over the Decades, whose Names appear Embossed on the Various Saratoga Springs Water Bottles that Contained the Waters of the Congress Spring. The Later Incarnations of the Bottle were Embossed w/ "JOHN CLARKE + CO." / "CLARKE + CO." / "CLARKE + WHITE" / "CONGRESS + EMPIRE", and Others. After about 1860, Many Other "Local" Springs in the Area began Bottle Their Mineral Waters in Very Similar Style and Beautifully Colored Glass Bottles of 1/2-Pint, Pint + Quart-Sizes with some of the Bottles Occasionally being Made-in-to "Wide-Mouth" Food or Preserve Storage-Jars, which are Extremely Rare and Highly Sought-after by Highly Passionate Antique Bottle Collectors Today.
The Base of the Bottle Features a Round but Fairly Smooth Indentation that I am assuming is a Type of "Pontil-Scar" but there are No Real Indications of Rough Broken Glass that I am Seeing or Feeling.
CONDITION: Very Nice Original, Condition w / a Small "Open-Bubble" appearing on the Top of the Neck, and a Similar "Open-Bubble" Towards the Edge of the Base of the Bottle...Both of are Hard-To-Find and Minor Concerns. There are NO OTHER FORMS OF "DAMAGE", NO CHIPS, NO CRACKS, NO "POT-STONE RADIATIONS", NO DISTRACTING SCUFFS OR ABRASIONS, NO BRUISES, NO STRIKES OR "IMPACT DINGS". No Interior or Exterior Staining and the Bottle May have had a Light "Tumbling" but I am Not Sure. Very Nice and Crude Looking Example ~ !!
This Example is from a Large and Important New England Antique Bottle Collection and was among a Fine Selection of Rare and Exciting Saratoga Type Mineral Water Bottles that were Recently Offered to the "Antique Bottle Market" over the Last Couple Years.
In 1823, John Clarke purchased land in Saratoga Springs with partner Thomas Lynch. The property included the Congress Spring in what is now Congress Park, at that time a swamp. Clarke drained the swamp to create a park and built a bottling plant there. In 1825,
Lynch and Clarke
began bottling Congress Spring Water. Lynch died in 1833 and Clarke continued the business alone, and eventually partnered with John White, and after his death, Eliza White, as Clarke & White to produce and market Congress Water. They were also the proprietors of
High Rock Spring
.
Clarke would die in 1846 but Clarke & White would continue. They were always on the lookout for counterfeiters and swindlers and had all their corks marked with a “C & W.” The notice below addresses this concern.
In 1871, Saratoga was promoted as a beautiful town lying an hour and a half’s railway ride from Albany, New York. The area was known for its life-giving springs and mineral water. The town had a residential population, all year round, of about 10,000, while in the summer it would overflow with pleasure and health-seeking pilgrims from all over the world.
Congress Water from Congress Spring was an early favorite beverage from patrons outside of Saratoga Springs. Congress Park was the gem of Saratoga. It consisted of a small hill in the shape of a horseshoe, covered with handsome trees, and laid out in smooth walks encircling the low ground which surrounded the spring. The centerpiece was Congress Spring Pavilion which was erected in 1876. The park and pavilion was the property of the Congress and Empire Spring Co., who generously kept it in perfect repair, and open to the public.