Ships, Folk Art, and Whimsey in Bottles

This is an old mold blown "pumpkinseed" flask bottle with a carved wooden ship inside it. This ship in bottle was believed to have been made by Thomas Edwards, a Civil War veteran and a resident of the Soldier's Home (at the time, the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers) in Dayton, Ohio. He died at the home in 1901. He varied his crossbars and ships a great deal on each while maintaining a similar theme. The ship has 3 masts with an multi-colored hull with a pattern painted on in yellow, black and light gray or blue. The hull is carved out and painted red inside. The masts and spars are well proportioned. The masts are painted red with some white strips along the length. The tips of each mast is painted black. The rigging is made from white thread and is well done with both standing, running rigging, and shroud lines. The ship is suspended between the edges of the glass near the bottom of the bottle. The is a very large flag flying from the rear mast. The flask was probably made between 1860 and 1890. It's stopper is a wooden shaft that is painted white with black ovals and dots painted on up and down the length. The shaft stops about 3/4" from the top of the neck opening and above the shaft is a round top that extends approximately 1/2" outside the bottle. Inside the bottom and attached to the end of the shaft is what looks like a dugout canoe. This canoe is painted in the same way and with the same colors as the shaft. Protruding from both the bow and stern of the canoe are approximately 1/2" sticks that have a glass bead on each side. The neck of the bottle has some surface chips.