How many come up for sale each year?

About 35 come to market in a year on Sellingantiques, and 85 different dealers have listed one. So no single specialist controls the field. The supply arrives in ones and twos from general dealers as much as from glass specialists.

What is the commonest type?

The labelled apothecary or chemist jar. "Apothecary" appears in roughly a quarter of titles, with "chemist" and "label" behind it. A large block of these are near-identical French examples dated circa 1890, in clear, amber, turquoise and Bristol blue glass. Cut-glass preserve and pickle jars and silver-topped dressing-table jars follow.

Which colours turn up?

Blue leads, then cranberry, amber and green. Bristol blue is named in several apothecary and dressing-table titles. Turquoise, opaline and amethyst are the scarcest, each named only a handful of times.

Are sets of chemist jars really sold together?

Yes, sets are a genuine feature of this category rather than an accident of cataloguing. Groups of three, five, six, nine, ten and twelve chemist jars all appear. One lot runs to twenty-nine. Pairs of shop display jars are also recorded, in around two dozen titles.

How old do these get?

The dated field spans 1750 to 1940, with 113 listings carrying a clean year. The earliest of those is a French hand-blown cornichon pickling jar dated 1750. Georgian and 18th-century pieces appear but are scarce. Two entries sit outside the antique run entirely, filed as Before 1700: Roman glass, including a set of four unguentaria dating to the 2nd to 3rd century AD.

What unusual pieces have appeared?

The largest things are not domestic jars at all. A brandy fountain made for a Watford brewery, a whisky bar dispenser and a Navy grog jar inscribed God Save the King sit at the top of the size range. One-off curiosities include a glass owl tobacco jar, cast-brass cats with glass eyes mounted on jars, a curling-stone preserve jar and a shop retail jar for crisps.

Search 0

651 PAGES BROWSED TODAY PAGES TODAY • 0 ANTIQUES UPLOADED TODAYNEW ARRIVALS

Sorted by

Per page

VISITOR LOGIN JOIN AS A SELLER DEALER LOGIN

Saved

GIFTS

Glass Jars

LATEST STOCK

Visitor Login (saved items)

Sort Order

Items Per Page

Antique Glass Jars

105 items · page 7 of 7

← Page 7 of 7 →

Lidded and stoppered glass vessels made for storing things in view: pharmacy stock behind a shop counter, preserves and biscuits on a table, powder and cream on a dressing table.