Editing Glass onion

{{Short description|Large hand-blown glass bottle}}
{{Other uses|Glass onion (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
[[File:Bottle DEV-E83C65 crop.jpg|thumb|A 1700s glass onion bottle]]
'''Glass onions''' or '''onion bottles''', were a shape of [[bottle]] developed and used during the 17th and 18th centuries. With new techniques of glass-making, the bottles marked a move away from ceramic [[pottery]].

==Background==
Onion bottles most commonly were used to hold [[wine]], but were also used for [[Liquor|spirits]].<ref name="Batjak">{{cite web |url= http://batjakltd.com/id70.html |title=Onion bottle |publisher=Batjak Ltd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007000959/http://batjakltd.com/id70.html |access-date= 2014-09-30|archive-date=7 October 2011 }}</ref> At the beginning of the 17th-century wine bottles were small and thin-walled, making them difficult to store and ship.

During the 1630s, [[privateer]] turned inventor [[Kenelm Digby]] teamed up with James Howell, creating a method of making stronger glass with hotter furnaces. Digby owned a glassworks that made bottles which were globular in shape with a high, tapered neck, a collar, and a [[Wine bottle#Punts|punt]]. His manufacturing technique involved a coal furnace, made hotter than usual by the inclusion of a wind tunnel, and a higher ratio of sand to [[potash]] and [[lime (mineral)|lime]] than was customary. Digby's technique produced wine bottles which were stronger and more stable than most of their day, and protected the contents from light due to their green or brown translucent, rather than clear transparent, color.<ref name="Estreicher">{{cite book |language=en|author=Stefan K. Estreicher|title=Wine: From Neolithic Times to the 21st Century|pages=73–74|publisher=Algora Publishing|date=2006 |isbn=9780875864778|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hCzUiYsGNwkC&dq=Glass+onion+bottle&pg=PA73|access-date= 2022-07-15}}</ref>

These early bottles, usually referred to as "shaft and globe" bottles, evolved into the onion bottle shape by the 1670s. This shape gradually evolved to be stouter with a broad base and short neck by the end of the 17th century, then became elongated during the onset of the 18th century. Onion bottles were dark green or brown from [[iron oxide]] found within the sand used to make them. The color was further darkened by the coal used to heat the furnaces, leaving the bottles almost black. Collars were applied to the tops for [[Wine cork|corks]] to be tied down. When shipped, they would be laid on their sides to soak the cork and help prevent [[oxidation]] of the wine. Spirits such as [[brandy]] were also [[Fortified wine|added to the wine]] to extend its life when shipping overseas.<ref name="Kehoe">{{cite web | title=Golden Age of Piracy: Booze, Sailors, Pirates and Health|last=Kehoe | first =Mark C. |page=2 | website=The Pirate Surgeon's Journals| url=http://piratesurgeon.com/pages/surgeon_pages/booze2.html | access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref>

== Gallery==
<gallery>
Berkshire, Onion bottle (FindID 257645).jpg|Onion bottle circa 1680 and 1700
A Post Medieval glass wine bottle dating from AD 1690-1700. (FindID 891131).jpg|Onion bottle circa 1690–1700
KENT-D30418 (FindID 729272).jpg|Onion bottle circa 1700 and 1750
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Glass bottles]]
[[Category:Plants in art|Onion]]


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