As long as I could remember, my mother has these three antique glass decanters. The other two I purchased from my local antique dealer. Anyway, these wine/sherry decanters are a mystery to me. Are they Spanish in origin? Central European perhaps? The green one is in fact uranium glass. I checked it with a portable black light. Pity it has a hole on the side.
One (see 1st photo) has a YOMEIGO marking on the base. It must have been a Japanese manufacturer from the Taisho or Showa period. The other one has a HERMANN - HAMBURG mark presumably Germanic in origin.
These bottles must have been imported during the end of the 19th century all the way to the 1950s, many from the prewar period. I surmise these were the tipple containers of choice for the bourgeoisie (in Filipino, "burgis") especially during the heyday of the American colonial period (1898-1946) wherein the middle and upper class Filipinos were able to enjoy imported goods in such unhindered quantities.
If you can imagine hacienderos in tuxedos in their Art Deco manors quaffing their vinos and brandy de jerez and smoking Tabacalera cigars during the annual cotillion watching Filipinas in butterfly-sleeved ternos, then you can imagine how these decanters were used during those times. Think Oro, Plata, Mata.
This is the uranium decanter in the collection. This must have been produced during the 20s and 30s during the era of Depression glass because uranium or vaseline glass virtually disappeared at the start of WWII.
As for the value of these decanters, there's no hard and fast rule since there's barely a club that specializes on this type of artifact. If anyone knows, or would like to offer theirs, send me an email. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
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