Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters

Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters

W 160

Unknown

Provenance: Sandor P. Fuss Collection

Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters is an enigma. At this point in time, there is no background information regarding this bottle. One thing is for sure, someone had a bitters concoction, ordered the bottle, and sold it to the populace.

What is puzzling about the Woodgate’s, is that there is no known advertising, no city directory listings, or no labeled example of the bottle that would set us on a path of discovery. We only have a few clues such as we believe the bottle was made at the Whitney Glass Works in Glassboro, New Jersey.

To date, there are four recorded examples of this extremely rare figural cabin bottle that we are aware of in collections. Two examples are dark amber and two examples are yellow-olive. Of these, we have three represented in our museum. Like most rare bitters there are old stories that want to be remembered. In one case, back in 2010 or 2011, two northern New Jersey “door knockers” were going house to house and asking the homeowners if they had any old bottles? In one case, the homeowner said something like, “not really, but I do have a log cabin bottle marked Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters.”

At the FOHBC 1984 Montgomery Alabama Expo there was not one, but two yellow-olive Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters openly displayed and for sale. I believe one was offered by Charlie Vuono; the other by whom I do not know. I recall the price on each was in the $10-15,000 range, an over-the-top bitters price 29 years ago!

Jeffrey Burkhardt, August 2013

Another clue relates to the name Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters. This is a direct plagiarism of the famous Drake’s Plantation Bitters figural log cabin bottle.

This specific square figural cabin bottle is 9 ¾ inches tall and has four recessed chamfered vertical panels making up the sides of the bottle. Note that the height of the bottle may vary due to the neck height of a specific bottle. Two of those sides have fifteen stacked horizontal half-circles visually representing logs. The other two side panels are smooth and would have been where a paper label would have been placed. The four verticle corners joining the sides are strong radiuses. Three of the four angled roofs are inset with eight fanned ribs set in a bell shape. The fourth roof is where the embossed copy occurs that reads, ‘WOODGATE’S’ in an arch over ‘PLANTATION’ in a second arch over a straight-line horizontal ‘BITTERS.’ The roof panels are bisected with the bottle neck leading to an applied long tapered collar mouth. The bottle has a smooth base. Typically, one might presume that amber glass was the primary glass color while the yellow-olive would have been an anomaly. This thought must be discarded.

So with these clues, we must look closely at Philadelphia or Baltimore for the proprietor.

The updated listing in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 is as follows:

W 160 // s // WOODGATE’S (au) / PLANTATION (au) / BITTERS //
8 ribs // 8 ribs // 8 ribs //
9 ¾ x 3 (6)
Square cabin, Amber, Yellow-olive, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare
15 horizontal logs in two opposite sides. Eight ribs on three shoulders.
Made by Whitney Glass Works in Glassboro, New Jersey
See W 160 in Bitters Bottles

Support: Reference to The Mystery surrounding the Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters

Primary Image: Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters imaged on location by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio led by Alan DeMaison.

Support: Reference to Bitters Bottles and Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 by Carlyn Ring, Bill Ham, and Ferdinand Meyer V. Use of Woodgate’s Plantation Bitters illustration courtesy Bill Ham.

Support Image: Auction Lot 141: “WOODGATE’S / PLANTATION / BITTERS”, (W-160), American, ca. 1865 – 1875, medium amber cabin, 10″h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth, about perfect, two pinhead or less in size flakes are off the roof, otherwise perfect. One of only three known examples, and the only one in this amber coloration. Considered by many to be one of the rarest of the cabin bitters bottles! This is a new find to the market, coming out of a home in Northern New Jersey. The irony of it is that the consignor of this bottle found one of the other two, 40-years ago! – Jim Hagenbuch, Glass Works Auctions | Auction #93

Support Image: Auction Lot 137: “WOODGATE’S / PLANTATION / BITTERS”, (W-160), American, ca. 1865 – 1875, medium amber cabin, 10 1/8”h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth. Cleaned to its original luster but retains some minor imperfections. Also, a tiny ‘nipple’ of glass located on the edge of a label panel has a tiny cooling radiation across it. This is one of only four known examples and is considered by many to be one of the rarest of the cabin bitters bottles! If you missed the one we auctioned last year, here’s a chance at another one! – Jim Hagenbuch, Glass Works Auctions

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