Lot 451: Paulson Stanton Impressed Stoneware Ginger Beer Bottle

Unknown. Restoration work. This company commenced in 1856 and seems to have been relatively short lived, with little mention of them after about 1863 in the newspapers. They were churning out 500 dozen a day at times and were well known, the factory appears to have been in the Campbell's Creek region of Castlemaine. Very few of these ginger beers have survived, this is extremely rare. The right lip looks to have had a small chip repair, with some possible painting across the upper lip over maybe some fine upper lip flakes that have been filled. Hairline to blob top at the front right from the top to the bottom of the top. Some nibbled small flakes to the lower edge of the top. Shoulder wear, quite heavy in places, looks to have been part painted over at some stage, but most of this has worn off. Some restoration to the lower body as well, which is hard to determine. There may be a small chip or two filled and painted to base edge, the underside of the base is definitely all original though. It actually looks like the potters marks are consistent throughout with being original, so we think that possibly this has been in two pieces and simply glued together neatly and coloured along the line to disguise the join? Impression is strong. Footnote: We have now checked this with a borescope and there is indeed a distinct line of glue or the likes in the lower third of the bottle, it looks very much like this bottle has simple been in two pieces, the two original pieces have been glued back together with some outer paintwork done to disguise the join. Grade: N/A Estimate: $400 - 500