all original early nineteenth century dark olive or black glass saratoga pint bottle manufactured for lynch & clarke in new york. the high shouldered glass is finished with a heavily whittled, wide neck and an applied double tapered lip or mineral finish. the finish features some slop and asymmetry and the body features allover seeding and whittling. the richly colored olive glass is opaque, and appears tinted slightly yellow in the light. the front of the glass is embossed with name and place of bottler, with little casewear. the shallowly indented base is uneven, with a central seam from manufacture with a keyed hinge mold. there is a large, flat chip on the base. crudity is consistent with its age and date of manufacture, including side seams that run up against the widely embossed company name. john clarke was a soda fountain owner in new york city who saw the potential of the area’s pure water and purchased land with thomas lynch in 1823. in 1825 both men started bottling water. saratoga springs was the home to 122 natural springs and renowned for the therapeutic mineral water. the iroquois called the high rock spring “the medicine springs of the great spirit”. the first bottles produced were from the mt. vernon glass works. the bottles were embossed “lynch & clarke” until 1833, when thomas lynch died. thereafter bottles were embossed “john clark”. john clarke soon married eliza white, who purchased the high rock springs, and together they formed the company clarke & white. john clarke would die in 1856. after his death the company changed hands, and eventually became the congress and empire spring company. by 1884 the company split into two companies.