Collectible Pots & Bottles | Collectibles & Collectors Items

Collecting decorative pots and bottles has been a popular hobby for many years and provides countless individuals with enjoyable and diverse collections. The naturally decorative styles and numerous materials available have been used to create beautiful examples that are not only functional but have excellent ornamental value. Knowing what to look for and where to search can be difficult at times but let us guide you down the right track.

The history of bottle collecting
People have been collecting pots and bottles in the UK for many years, starting in earnest in the late 1960's. It has since become an ever growing hobby among many antique enthusiasts. Bottle collecting clubs have even been formed across the country, enabling fellow collectors to meet each other and share their passion. Collectable pots and bottles can be found dating back many hundreds of years providing ardent collectors with many interesting choices.

Styles to collect
Over the years millions of pots and bottles have been produced, providing the collector with a huge selection from which to choose. Many of the more popular and accessible examples have come from the Edwardian and Victorian periods. These particular time frames have produced some interesting, instantly recognizable styles, ranging from beautifully crafted stoneware to intricate glassware designs. Popular items to collect may range from beer, water, medicine, or ink bottles and even containers such as pygg pots, used to hold condiments such as salt or pepper.

Where can you go build on your collection
As with many items from these periods, there are still numerous items waiting to be found. You may not even have to pay for the first examples to add to your collection. Throughout history, pots and bottles in many forms have been discarded in rubbish dumps of the time, and one of the best ways to extract unique examples has been to dig for them yourselves. One of the hardest tasks is to actually find one of these sites. If you are able to search the local land registry records you may be able to find a site close to where you live. Start off at the library, looking for related information. You may even be lucky enough to find someone who may know a little bit about the history of the local area. If you do manage to find a potential site you will of course require consent to perform any form of dig or excavation. Now this may seem a little over the top, but if you do end up starting your collection in this way, you have the added allure of knowing that you are the first person to lay their hands on the item for an extremely lengthy period of time. You may even find a other interesting relics while you're at it.
More conventional methods obviously exist, as many people do not have the time or patience to complete such a task. Internet auction or classified sites can also yield some great results. You have the ability to search many items at the click of a mouse, so it would be foolish not to take advantage of these sources.
Rather than choosing to search online sites you may choose to visit the many auction houses found throughout the country. Although you will end up paying 'top dollar' for these articles you can usually be sure of their history and authenticity. They will usually be in impeccable condition obviously adding to their potential value.

Define your reasons for collecting
When you are thinking about building a collection you need to define your reasons to collect. You may be trying to build a decorative collection to display around the home, and to actually use the items in many day to day uses. Your intentions may be however, to amass a collection of antique examples that will attain a high future value.

Value your collection
Even if you have no intention of collecting for monetary gain, you would be silly to ignore the potential value of your collection. Prices for many historical pots and bottles can range dramatically from a few pence for mass produced, common glass items, to possibly thousands or pounds for extremely rare, specially crafted examples. Condition of these items is obviously of paramount importance, so try to ensure (at least when buying items to add to your collection) that you search for examples that are in the best of conditions. Pristine, colourful pots and bottles will retain much more value, which certainly attracts much more attention when you come to sell parts of your collection.

Collecting pots and bottles can provide you with some beautiful, functional items to collect that can add that finishing touch to any room. All that it takes it to decide what kind of collection you would like and to get out there and start searching. Happy digging!