1850s Cobalt Blue Glass Iron-Pontiled Soda Bottle

Description

single original mid-nineteenth century vibrant deep cobalt blue iron pontiled soda bottle manufactured for chicago bottler john m. hedlund. the slim body tapers into a long, narrow neck with an applied tapered blobtop that has a single minor chip. both the finish and neck exhibit heavy whittling and the entire body is irridized with a rainbow hue. the 1850's bottle exhibits a front body cleanly embossed with "hedlund & co. / chicago, il". the base has a deeply domed kickup with little residue from the iron pontil. crudities are typical of its age and date of manufacture, including allover whittling and bubbles, and noticeable asymmetry in the shape of the shoulders, and an open bubble on the front. soon after they emigrated to america from sweden, john hedlund and isaac johnson settled in chicago and formed the hedlund & co. soda water bottling company on payton between michigan and kinzie. they are listed as soda water bottlers for only three or four seasons (1856-1858). in their last bottling season, isaac johnson withdrew from or played a reduced role in the company, since hedlund's later bottles have "& co" embossing peened out. notably, at least five embossed-lettering mold variations are known for the hedlund company bottles, which provide an interesting illustration of patterns of glass production and consumption by early bottlers.