Whiskey Decanters
1978 Six whiskey decanters (out of a series of six) from the Hoffman Distilling Company of Lawrenceburg, KE. The photo at the left shows the packaging, a sample decanter, and the certificate that comes with each decanter. Each decanter has a scene portrayed in deep relief on its front. To see each of these, and a detail of its scene, click on either the icon (left) or text (right) in the "Individual Decanters" list below. For features common to all six, look at the illustrations just below, under "Standard details." On the back (upper left) is a text together with a picture of Aesop teaching a group of animals (lower left). Aesop also sits in three dimensions with a shepherd's crook in his hand as the cork on top of the bottle (upper right). Beware! The corks love to split in half, especially leaving half inside the opening! Each decanter also contains a music-box. So far I can decipher the tune from only one of the decanters. Each is signed "Fred Lammert 1977" (lower right). Each decanter contained 4/5 of a quart. The decanters were made in Japan. Standard details of all decanters:
|
|
|
|
Individual decanters:
| AL: The lion is kissing or licking Androcles, whose one eye squints as he removes the thorn from the crying lion's paw. Tune: "What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love." Linjer and Time in a Bottle. |
| BW: The boy calls back left while the wolf appears with open mouth over him on the right. Linjer and Time in a Bottle. |
| DS: The rendering of two things is excellent in this decanter. First, the dog's left ear is arched up as he looks down intot he water with the bone in his mouth. Secondly, the flat reflection in the water below is well done. Connor. |
| FG: The fox's tongue hangs out to the right as he shows an angry and disgruntled look. Time in a Bottle. |
| GGE: The man seems to be whistling as he hides the hatchet behind his back and eyes the goose, who stands over two golden eggs. Linjer and Time in a Bottle. |
| TH: The bunny sleeps next to a tree stump while the tortoise passes by. In the background a fox holds a flag ready to signal the winner. Linjer. |
I have obtained twelve decanters; six are extras. They have ranged in price from $5 to $50. Five have the original box and protective foam casing--all but FG. FG is thus the only decanter for which I have no extra exemplar. There is one extra exemplar of TH with a damaged box. Other extras include GGE (two), BW (two), and AL. Ebay sources included JoNelle and Kelly Linjer, Racine, WI, June, '99; Time in a Bottle, Brookfield, CT, March, '99; Jeffrey William Connor, Sr., Sept., '00; Dave Bell, Queen Creek, AZ, Nov., '03; Eric Watts, Omaha, NE, Dec., '03; and t427, East Stroudsburg, PA, Dec., '03.
The same manufacturer and artist collaborated on a lovely pitcher matching the scene in GGE above.