DUTCH PICTORIAL COSMOPOLIET CASE-GIN BOTTLE, dark olive/black, square "case gin" form with inward taper and beveled lower corners, heavily embossed on front panel with "COSMOPOLIET / *pictorial of a bucolic Dutch man holding a bottle* / J. J. MELCHERS WZ / SCHEIDAM", crudely applied tapered mouth, smooth base. Circa 1870. 9 3/8" H, 2 1/4" SQ base.
Literature: Parallels Van den Bossche - Antique Glass Bottles, p. 134, pl. 86.

Collection of the late Al and Billy Steidel, Alexandria, VA.

Excellent condition with no apparent chips or cracks but with heavy etching and surface staining due to having been recovered from an underwater resting place. Large smooth as-made dip at lip, and extensive circular residual marks especially at shoulder and down the rear, left over from barnacle activity.