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A beautiful early New England patent-medicine bottle embossed:
DR. H. KELSEY
LOWELL MASS
This scarce bottle was produced for Dr. Hugh Kelsey, who advertised in Lowell as a botanic physician beginning around 1846. Surviving labeled examples identify its original contents as:
Dr. Williams’ Vegetable Jaundice Bitters
Prepared by Dr. H. Kelsey, Lowell, Mass.
Price 38 Cents
Like many mid-19th-century “vegetable bitters,” Kelsey’s preparation was marketed as a broadly useful household remedy during an era when proprietary medicines were sold for digestive trouble, jaundice, appetite complaints, and other ailments. These medicines were commonly compounded from botanical extracts and alcohol, then promoted through newspapers, handbills, and local agents.
The bottle is an appealing early oval flask form with a rounded shoulder, bold vertical embossing, a hand-applied sloping collar, and an unmistakable blowpipe open pontil scar on the base. The wonderfully crude glass exhibits pronounced waviness, scattered bubbles, and desirable orange-peel texture—all characteristic of hand-blown American glass from the middle 19th century.
Details
- Circa 1845–1855
- Dr. Hugh Kelsey
- Lowell, Massachusetts
- Originally held Dr. Williams’ Vegetable Jaundice Bitters
- Approximately 6.5 inches tall
- Crystal-clear light aqua glass
- Hand-applied sloping collar
- Strong blowpipe open pontil scar
- Bold, crisp embossing
- Wonderful orange-peel texture, bubbles, and waviness
- Scarce documented New England bitters bottle
Condition
Exceptional attic-mint condition. Bright, clean, and shiny with beautiful crystal-clear aqua coloration. No chips and no cracks. The crude texture, bubbles, waviness, and irregularities around the applied lip are original manufacturing character—not damage. A remarkably clean example that looks as though it spent the last 170-plus years safely tucked away.
A choice bottle for collectors of early American medicines, bitters, pontiled glass, Lowell history, Massachusetts advertising, or pre-Civil War Americana.
Dating evidence
Your example closely matches the bottle cataloged by American Glass Gallery as:
- “Dr. H. Kelsey / Lowell Mass”
- American, 1845–1855
- Aquamarine oval
- Applied sloping collar
- Blowpipe pontil
- 6½ inches
- Hugh Kelsey advertised as a botanic physician in 1846
American Glass Gallery catalog
The bottle-reference listing identifies this form as K-24, describes it as open-pontiled and scarce, and records the original Dr. Williams’ Vegetable Jaundice Bitters label. Patent Medicine and Painkiller Bottles guide.
