A bottle is a glass container for holding liquids. Bottles come in many shapes and sizes and are made from a variety of materials. They are used for storing beverages, but also for medicines and other products. Some of the most famous bottles are cobalt blue, with a long neck and narrow body. These bottles were used by sailors to hold their rum and other drinks before being shipped on voyages across the sea. The shape of a bottle can also indicate its contents. For example, a clear glass bottle with an embossed name such as “Hutchinson Soda Water” can be used to identify the type of product it originally contained.
The exact definition of a bottle is not settled, with scientists being divided over whether glass is in fact a liquid or solid. It is generally considered to be an amorphous solid, but a few key features set it apart from other common materials such as highly viscous liquids and conventional crystal lattice-based solids. In particular, glass has structures that are not crystalline, and thus it does not have the internal structural boundaries of a crystal lattice and is able to be manipulated into a wide range of shapes when cooled rapidly enough.
A remarkably versatile material, glass is found in windows, drinking vessels, ovenware and tableware, optical fibres for telecommunications (underpinning the internet), lighting, and many other applications. Historically, it has been fabricated into a vast array of different shapes and forms, and its versatility continues to be one of the reasons why glass is so valuable today.
This complex of Bottle Typing (Typology)/Diagnostic Shapes pages is intended to be an on-line “type collection” of the major types and styles of glass bottles made throughout history. Each of the eight bottle types/shape categories is described in general in a box that may be clicked on to view a larger thumbnail picture of a typical example from that category. Each page is designed to be a work-in-progress, with the author continually adding more examples and additional information to each of them.
Note to Readers: When determining how large a label should be for a particular bottle, take the time to measure the circumference of the bottle with a tape measure or piece of paper. A good rule of thumb is to use the same size label that was used on the bottle when it was in production. If possible, a label that wraps around the entire circumference of the bottle should be applied for best results. This will help to ensure that the label is firmly attached. This is particularly important when using a square bottle where the flat panel of a label will be applied to an uneven surface. Using a label that is too large can cause the bottle to appear unbalanced when viewed from the side. Also, a too-small label can leave an area of the bottle’s surface exposed which is undesirable. For this reason, it is a good idea to have multiple labels on hand.
