Dimensions: 16″ tall

Bottle Markings: large “bar” bottle

This Carl Worner saloon is a grand example of the artist’s work. It was made for Sven J. Mellin of Chicago who had a lodge and saloon in McHenry County, northwest of the city. The name “S.J.Mellin” is over the bar, right under a carved barrel and two bottles in front of an arch and flanked by an American flag and a Swedish flag. Above the bartender is a shelf with bottles and cigar boxes. On the bar is a barrel of Aquavit with a tap, and two signs at the sides advertise Tosti beer. A long pole extends out from the bar to the front of the bottle; it has a six-pointed star on the end and may have something to do with keeping the structure steady.

Below the floor are two separate privies (shown right), one with a man standing and one with a woman sitting. Stairs go down on the “Ladies” side, and the “room” is wallpapered. The front panels of the privies are decorated with shields with the Swedish and American flag motifs. And on the center front panel is a Swedish verse which reads something like: “Hvilken alskar olon win siungin och Hustru aren dumming for hela sitt Lif” which I think he meant to say “He who loves not wine, song and wife is a dimwit all his life.” This is almost exactly the same verse he wrote in another large saloon bottle shown on this website.