FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board

Antiquities Discussion Forums => Ancient Glass => Topic started by: Enodia on September 07, 2009, 08:30:34 pm

Title: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Enodia on September 07, 2009, 08:30:34 pm
i'm wondering if anyone can point me to a dealer who sells the plastic (lucite?) stands which one often sees supporting ancient glass bottles (unguentaria and the like)?

i have tried searching museum suppliers, display manufacturers, etc, and have even contacted a few dealers who sell the bottles, but so far to no avail.
i have a cheap metal stand now which i purchased from an antique dealer, but it is not very secure and i don't trust it to withstand even the slightest bump. unfortunately he knew of no place that sells what i am looking for, so i'm hoping somebody here might have a connection.

thank you in advance,
~ Peter
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: commodus on September 07, 2009, 09:47:18 pm
I had to resort to making them myself. The acrylic can be gotten at craft supply stores in sheets of varying thickness. A sturdy ruler, an exacto knife, and super glue are the other supplies necessary.
It is rather a hassle but it works.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Enodia on September 07, 2009, 10:00:39 pm
i had tried something similar myself, using a small oak base with a dimple drilled into it, and a metal skewer with a round handle bent to 90 degrees set in, with ribbon wrapped around the loop. i wasn't too pleased with the result though.

perhaps i will try again using your method. i'm sure i can find the supplies rather easily.

and thanks for your reply! 

~ Peter
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: commodus on September 08, 2009, 02:08:01 am
I wasted a lot of acrylic, a small amount of blood, and superglued my fingers together a couple times before I got a result I was happy with.
So... best of luck.
I know I, for one, don't plan to take up making these things professionally!
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on April 18, 2010, 11:53:52 am
Question to both:

Do you have pics of the end result?

I am considering a purchase of ancient glass and this was the first thing that crossed my mind.

Thanks!

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: commodus on May 31, 2010, 12:23:01 pm
Do you have pics of the end result?

I haven't checked this topic in a while. I'll take a shot at photographing examples and will post them if the pictures are decent. I don't know if it is too late with regard to your purchase decision. I bought most of my Roman glass items before I had any way to display them and kept them carefully packed in cotton in a box until I did. I have a couple of ancient bottles with flat bases that will stand upright without support, much like a modern bottle, but such vessels are definitely the exception, rather than the rule.

I've seen a few artifacts of this sort offered for sale with stands included, which is definitely a plus in my book.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: leetoone on May 31, 2010, 01:30:12 pm
I have used circular stands that are sold in mineral shops to displays "eggs" shaped out of various mineral samples. They seem to do the job for my small jars but it depends on diameters and lengths of the "pointy" bits at the bottom.  ;D

http://www.mineralcraft.com/acatalog/Stone_Egg_Sphere_Stands.html

I guess Joe could get some in stock if they were suitable.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Joe Sermarini on May 31, 2010, 03:27:26 pm
I actually purchased some stands for inventory but, based on the number of coins I have received lately and my intent to go on vacation soon, it may be a couple months before I can add them to the catalog. 
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on June 01, 2010, 01:42:36 am
commodus/lee/joe,

i have not made my purchase yet as i was hoping for a response to this post, and i got three :)

ideally, at least for me, would be a stand like lee shows with a glass or plexiglass type of cover sitting on a base of some sort, like wood, for example. maybe it would have an arm that comes up in the back to which the neck of the glass could be loosely tied so that it is essentially immovable. i would hate to get something like that and then have the all-too-predictable earthquake happen here in SoCal and have it go over.

thanks for your responses!

mz

Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: commodus on June 01, 2010, 02:20:24 am
Here are pictures of the basic types of some of my stands.

The first shows two made using acrylic bases about 2 inches square. Each is drilled with a hole about 1 to 2 cm in from the side which will be the back and fitted with a stiff wire bent and formed to both brace and hold the vessel. Each wire apparatus is custom fitted to the vessel to be mounted.

The second shows the same two stands with the vessels in place. At left is a small Etruscan jar hooked to the wire and set on the stand; same type of stand can be used for glass bottles as well; this one was just readily at hand. To the right is a Roman (perfume?) bottle set on its stand. The forked portion of the wire apparatus holds the mouth in place and the little ridge (made from a toothpick cut to size and painted black then mounted to the acryllic square) keeps the base of the bottle in place. Both vessels can easily be removed from the stand but the stand holds them upright and in place when on display.

The third photo shows a commercially made brass stand from a mineral shop of the sort leetoone describes. These come in a variety of sizes for displaying stone eggs and orbs but can just as easily be used for bottles, such as the imperial era Roman jar I am using it for in the photograph.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on June 01, 2010, 10:00:27 am
Damn, that's clever! and nice workmanship, too.

What kind of wire is that? A coat hanger? The same gauge as a coat hanger?

Is there any sort of padding where the metal/acrylic meets the glass? Do you suggest that?

After looking at these, it comes to mind to wonder why the perfume bottle, for example, did not have a flat bottom so it could be stood up. Did they have some sort of hollowed-out base to put them on at the time?

Anyway, I think I see my way clear to setting up something like this.

Commodus, thanks for taking the time :)

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: commodus on June 01, 2010, 03:58:09 pm
Thanks!
The wire is smaller gauge than a coat hanger but of similar stiffness and pliability. It can be obtained at a hardware store. I drilled the acryllic with a bit the same size as the wire's thickness and then set the wire into with a drop of superglue in the hole first, wiping off the excess with a damp cloth immediately so it doesn't mar the acryllic. The acryllic can be enamelled also, as I did with the stand on the left. The wire part I custom fitted first, before mounting it, bending it into shape with a couple pair of pliers using the dimensions of the vessel to be displayed.
I imagine the ancients had to have kept the bottles in some sort of stand. Whether small, like these, or large like amphorae, the Romans (and Greeks and other Mediterranean peoples) made a LOT of vessels, both glass and earthenware, with rounded or pointed bases. They just weren't thinking ahead to how difficult it would be for us, 2,000 years or so later, to display them! :laugh:
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on June 01, 2010, 08:37:08 pm
I wonder, have any of those stands survived?

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: commodus on June 02, 2010, 02:49:14 am
Perhaps, though I know of none. It stands to reason that some would have, but I've never seen one. I'm really only speculating that they even existed because logic suggests they must have.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: leetoone on June 02, 2010, 02:57:52 am
I remember seeing somewhere, holes dug into rock or stone that was part of a building where they would stand wine amphorae. I guess something on a smaller scale would do for smaller bottles. I'll try and find a pic.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Enodia on June 02, 2010, 03:38:00 pm
i always imagined, for unguentaria anyway, something like a test-tube rack. either that or they just laid them down, assuming they were securely corked.

btw, nice holders commodus. this is what i had in mind but never got around to.
i was going to use an oak base with a dimple drilled in to secure the bottom, and possibly one of those sticky felt circles one uses on the bottom of lamps, etc. the upright was a kabob skewer with a circular handle which i bent to 90 degrees and wrapped in ribbon (although i considered some of that clear plastic tubing used in fish tanks and the like). THAT part i got done anyway, and maybe i'll get to the rest eventually. by then maybe Joe will list his and save me the effort.   ;)

hopefully,
~ Peter

Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: wandigeaux (1940 - 2010) on June 02, 2010, 03:42:30 pm
A shallow, open box filled with fine sand would have worked.  Just work the pointy end of a bottle into the sand and Bob's your uncle.  Evidence?  I don't have to show you no stinking evidence.  Cheers, George S.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: commodus on June 02, 2010, 05:18:58 pm
btw, nice holders commodus.

Thanks. I've done some others as well, but this is the basic type. I haven't made any in quite some time. I don't plan to go into the display stand business; those I've done were enough!  :P
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 08, 2012, 03:47:51 pm
Hello Friends,

I wanted to revive this thread not only due to its content but also to illustrate the flattery I felt due to the caliber of the FORVM members who were kindly helping me with my conundrum. 

In that regard, a tip of the cap to Eric Brock (commodus), Lee Toone, Peter (enodia) and George (Wandigeaux).

It took me a while (over two years, in fact) but I finally resolved my problem with displaying my recently purchased ancient glass (from FORVM).

Please take a look :)

Regards,

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Aarmale on August 08, 2012, 04:26:30 pm
Very nice case!
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 08, 2012, 07:31:53 pm
Very nice case!

Thanks!

It's something I found online at a site that sells these in various sizes for storing one's doll collection.  Hence, the hook.

BTW, I decided to leave the hook in and attached the bottle to the hook with a piece of thread to prevent tipping.

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Aarmale on August 08, 2012, 09:57:06 pm
Thanks!

It's something I found online at a site that sells these in various sizes for storing one's doll collection.  Hence, the hook.

BTW, I decided to leave the hook in and attached the bottle to the hook with a piece of thread to prevent tipping.

mz

It's very creative!  I always surprises me to what great lengths we collectors go to improvise. :)
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Steve E on August 09, 2012, 02:17:45 am
I think you found the perfect display solution!!!

Maybe finish it off with a engraved brass plate ;)


Great job!!!

~Steve
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: quadrans on August 09, 2012, 02:28:59 am
Hi Mark,

Congrat it is a very creative solution...
nice

 +++
quadrans
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 09, 2012, 11:47:28 pm
Steve and Q,

I thank you :)

Hadn't thought of a brass plate but that's a pretty good idea.

Something else I have added is Mr. Malloy's little ID slip of paper that I found inside the bottle and fished out with a tweezers. It's right in front. It would look more finished if there were a circle of glass under the bottle to hold the slip of paper in place and flat.

I was looking at the curvature of the hook and another thought popped into my head a little while ago: Push the brass hook down a little more into its hole so that it just fits in the mouth of the bottle. I bent it forward a little to clear the side of the bottle and I got rid of the little piece of thread.

I taped the little informative slip of paper from FORVM on the bottom underneath.

Viola!

I wish Eric Brock was here to see it.

mz

p.s. couldn't get a sharp pic for some reason.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: *Alex on August 10, 2012, 06:39:01 am
That was a good idea Mark. I like it. (and I like the bottle too)

Alex.
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 10, 2012, 09:40:53 am
That was a good idea Mark. I like it. (and I like the bottle too)

Alex.

Thanks! :) (beaming with pride)

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: SC on August 10, 2012, 10:26:27 am
Extremely clever display Mark.

Nice also that you protect it from dust - you can dust your glass cover but the Roman glass will never need dusting.

Shawn
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 10, 2012, 10:43:34 am
Extremely clever display Mark.

Nice also that you protect it from dust - you can dust your glass cover but the Roman glass will never need dusting.

Shawn


Shawn,

Thanks!

Funny you should mention that. The cover has a bunch of fingerprints on it from me taking it off and on to try different ideas.

Now that it is settled I can clean it off.

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: kc on August 10, 2012, 11:16:06 am
very cool bottle...drink your beer out of it. :)
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 10, 2012, 07:41:06 pm
very cool bottle...drink your beer out of it. :)

Andreas,

Good idea but I am about 20 minutes away from my Friday evening Vodka Martini  :YL:

"For those about to drink, we salute you!"

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: SC on August 14, 2012, 05:07:24 am
The Romans, at least of the High Empire, would have loved Martinis!

I see the Julio-Claudians as Gin Martini types with Vespasian starting the Vodka movement.

But I digress.

Shawn
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 15, 2012, 06:23:45 pm
The Romans, at least of the High Empire, would have loved Martinis!

I see the Julio-Claudians as Gin Martini types with Vespasian starting the Vodka movement.

But I digress.

Shawn


Shawn,

When one is discussing martinis, that would never be considered a digression!  ::)

mz
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: crawforde on August 15, 2012, 08:54:40 pm
But who should go for a Hendricks and cucumber martini?
Title: Re: Glass bottle stands
Post by: Mark Z on August 15, 2012, 11:36:32 pm
But who should go for a Hendricks and cucumber martini?

Hey, I will try anything once!

BTW, to get this thread back on track, I had a VERY nice email from Shannon Brock, the late Eric Brock's (commodus) widow.

Needless to say that I was extremely flattered by her compliments regarding the display case for the glass bottle.

Regards,

mz