Clear & Aqua Antique Glass Bottles from NYC

Clear glass hid nothing. Unlike amber or cobalt, clear and aqua glass bottles carried no light-filtering purpose, they were used wherever a manufacturer wanted the contents visible: milk, household goods, ink, and everyday pharmacy items. Aqua, the faint blue-green tint that occurs naturally in glass with trace iron content, is the color most associated with the earliest American bottle-making before manufacturers learned to remove it. The clear and aqua glass bottles in this collection were recovered from New York City's historic shoreline, ranging from utilitarian dairy and household bottles to more refined apothecary and perfume glass, each carrying the natural wear and patina of decades in the sand.

FAQs

What's the difference between clear and aqua antique glass?

Both were used where manufacturers wanted contents visible, unlike colored glass used to hide or protect contents. Aqua is the faint blue-green tint that occurs naturally from trace iron, most common in the earliest American bottle-making before that tint was engineered out.

How old are these clear and aqua glass bottles?

All pieces are pre-mid 1950s, recovered from New York City's historic shoreline, ranging from everyday dairy and household bottles to more refined apothecary and perfume glass.