Giorgio - Bottle - Tin - pilgrim bottle

Ancient Greek pilgrim/ travel Flask in tin - Cyprus – dated 1895 – hand-engraved Orthodox folk art

Rare hand-engraved metal bottle from Cyprus or the Greek-Balkan region, dated “1895.” The piece belongs to a group of traditional flat travel and pilgrimage flasks that were used in Orthodox Southeast Europe during the 19th century. Comparable examples are known from Greece, Epirus, Cyprus, and the Ottoman-influenced Balkan region.
The bottle features elaborately engraved folk-art ornaments on both sides. Particularly notable is the central anthropomorphic depiction with radiating or wing-like elements, presumably an Orthodox protective or blessing symbol. The back bears a finely engraved laurel wreath.

Along the edge is a hand-engraved inscription in Greek letters as well as the date “1895.” In the inscription it reads (”διά χειρός …” = “by the hand of Giorgios / ΓΙΩΡΓΙΟ”). On the reverse side is engraved “KYPIRIA” Cyprus.

Such bottles were traditionally used for water, oil, spirits, or on pilgrimage, combining practical use with religious or folkloric symbolism.

Condition
Beautiful authentic condition with age-related patina and signs of wear. Original screw cap present. The engravings are well preserved and give the object a strong ethnographic presence.

An exceptional collectible for connoisseurs of Greek folk art, Orthodox antiquities, and ethnographic 19th-century objects.