That’s my bottle, I thought as I approached one of two tables at the auction house filled to the brim with all sorts of wine and liquor bottles. It was in the shape of an island man wearing a sunshine-bright yellow plastic hat, his features outlined in brilliant colors against amber glass. The bottle was a standout among the commonly shaped wine bottles surrounding it, except for the one that wore a corset.
My bottle at home – which I picked up at another auction – was missing dabs of paint, and it was empty. I wondered if this new bottle was empty, too, so I picked it up and lightly flipped it up and down. I could see the movement of the rum through the dark glass. It was full and appeared to have never been opened.
That was the case for most of the bottles on the tables. They still had their paper wrappings and corks on the top. Someone (or more than one person) seemed to have spent a pretty penny for stuff that won’t bring in any more than a few bucks or more.
Bottles of wine and liquor show up pretty often at auctions, and they go quickly – even those that are open. I suspect that most of the stuff, opened or not, would be consumed. One of this auction house’s owners had assumed in a preview video that people would pour out the contents and save the bottles.
After examining the Old Oak Rum bottle, I started looking more closely at the others on the table, and saw that it was not the only figural bottle (figurals are in the shapes of animals, people, buildings, etc). There were others in various shapes, and would be considered collectibles. Take a look at this mid-19th century Imperial Levee bottle that sold for up to $2,340 at several auctions.
Here are the more interesting bottles from the auction and their labels:
