Y E L L O W
(above) Yellow figural whiskey bottle and Suffolk Bitters from the Meyer Collection
The Color Yellow – A wide range of shades
02 April 2013
Yellow is an important color in bottle collecting but is usually, for some odd reason to some, less desirable than the ‘prettier’ blues and greens. It is actually a very tough color to obtain in many bottle areas such as bitters, medicines, flasks and ink bottles. When I walk my rooms and look at my shelves, many of the yellows have a degree of amber in them, which is probably the most common bottle color besides aqua. It is only when you focus on finding the purer yellow color shades do you really start to see and understand the beauty and range of yellow.
Yellow is the color of gold, butter, or ripe lemons. In the spectrum of visible light, and in the traditional color wheel used by painters, yellow is located between green and orange. Yellow is commonly associated with gold, sunshine, reason, optimism and pleasure, but also with envy, jealousy and betrayal. It plays an important part in Asian culture, particularly in China [Wikipedia]
Yellow is a misunderstood color with a wide range of possibilities. You may hear people describing a yellow bottle as yellow amber, apricot, citron, goldenrod, lime, saffron, lemon yellow, straw, olive yellow, school bus yellow, light yellow, canary, mustard, harvest gold, rye, ginger ale etc. To illustrate my point, I have created a gallery below of the wide range of yellow shades represented in antique bottles and related glass collectibles.
Gorgeous picture of a master ink and three umbrella inks in various shades of yellow – John April
Shades of Yellow
Yellow in Nature
Pantone Matching System
Yellow in Bottles and Glass
Free-blown Globular bottle in straw yellow with olive tone – Glass Works Auctions
Two shades of yellow ‘spool’ and ‘beehive’ insulators. Spool is in the Meyer Collection.
Scroll Flask, “LOUISVILLE, KY. – GLASS WORKS“, (GIX-6), Louisville Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1845 – 1855, olive yellow quart, red iron pontil – Glass Works Auction #92
Three shades of yellow NATIONAL BITTERS (figural ear of corns) – Meyer Collection
Eagle-Eagle (GII-25) in yellow – Glass Works Auction #92
Two yellow beer bottles – ADLER & MAYER PITTSBURG, PA and a W F GRICKLER BATAVIA, NY – Meyer Collection
SUFFOLK BITTERS (figural pig) in lemon yellow – Meyer Collection
TRADE MARK LIGHTING fruit jars in two shades of yellow – Meyer Collection
Two very different shades of yellow OLD SACHEM BITTERS AND WIGWAM TONIC – Meyer Collection
Yellow ‘Swirl” and Gold Mercury Raised Quilt Lightning Rod Balls – Meyer Collection
Stiegel type scent bottle in light straw yellow – Glass Works Auctions
LONDON JOCKEY CLUBHOUSE GIN in a bubbly citron – Ex. Meyer Collection
Two shades of yellow SKILTON FOOTE BUNKER HILL PICKLE bottles – Meyer Collection
Read More: What is Puce or ‘Pooce’ as some call it?
