One of my favorite ‘square’ bitters – don’t stop reading now! – is the incredibly ornate Steinfeld’s French Cognac Bitters. With champhered, shingled shoulders this bottle is also adorned with arched typography, a motif of a head, a crest, a shield and grape vines. It is simply a great bottle with immaculate detail.
I am fortunate to have a great example (pictured below) but alas, Sandor Fuss trumped me recently with his acquisition of an even nicer example. His bottle is Ex: everything…ex: Osgood collection, ex: Charles Gardner collection, ex: Don Keating collection, ex: Carlyn Ring collection. Wow what provenance!
S 186 STEINFELD’S FRENCH COGNAC BITTERS Circa 1867, STEINFELD’S / FRENCH COGNAC / BITTERS // sp // FIRST, PRIZE ( au ) / PARIS / EXHIBITION (au ) / motif profile of a man in draped oval with a crown / 1867 // sp // 9 7/8 x 2 3/4 (6 1/2) 1/2, Square, Amber and Gold, LTCR, Applied mouth, 4 sp, Very Rare, Bevels decorated with a vine alternating leaves and bunch of grapes. Elaborately shaped sunken panels with 10 shingles at shoulder.
See: Steinfelds French Cognac Bitters, By HISTORICGLASS | Published: JUNE 28, 2010
Amber Steinfeld's - Meyer Collection
Gold Steinfeld's - Fuss Collection
Steinfeld's Tokens - eBay
