BACKGROUND:
Dan Moyer has been painting bottles for over a decade. Dan’s claim to fame is that he produced the bottle used in the AT&T commercial with Barbara Eden. Dan primarily paints on replica ceramic bottles but originally painted on Jim Beam bottles. The first season bottle I have was purchased from a person who bought the bottle from Dan a few years ago. You can see some of his work as well as contact information at: http://geocities.com/jhartnow/buyabottle.html. BOTTLE:
This was one of the nicest surprises in a long time! The first season bottle by Dan is entirely hand painted on an original Jim Beam bottle. IMPORTANT NOTE: Since posting this review I have been in contact with Dan Moyer concerning this bottle and he has kindly informed me that the prior owner made a number of unfortunate alterations to his original work including the addition of gold paint to the design work, a gloss clear coating to the entire bottle and that the prior owner is the one who filled the stopper with plaster. It is definitely a caveat when purchasing an artist’s bottle at resale that you may receive a bottle that has been subsequently altered from the artist’s original work. Now that I am in contact with Mr. Moyer I have commissioned both first and second season bottles from him and I am looking forward to replacing this review with those bottles. In the future you will find this bottle reviewed under what to guard against when purchasing a bottle second hand. ORIGINAL REVIEW:
That having been said despite the unfortunate alterations that have been made to this bottle I still find it a beautiful addition to my collection which is only a testament to Dan Moyer's talent as it still shines through the alterations that have been made to it. The original bottle used a gold painted leaf design that was antiqued with a matte black frost finish. Using a combination of copper and gold paint the bottle is base coated with a thin matte black wash. The leaf design is typical of the first season design not the pilot episode design which is more common. The stopper has been filled with plaster, reason unknown. The really interesting thing about this bottle is how the faded leaf design appears using a base of copper paint for the leaves and then a thicker gold paint over that and tapering it for the faded effect. Up close the gold paint looks too thick and globs in places but photographically is most like an original prop bottle. The bottle is not in the best of shape having obviously been handled quite a bit and altered by the previous owner. | 
