Vintage Cuban Crema Banano Figural Liquor Bottle Rumba Dancer Havana

This is a vintage Cuban figural glass liquor bottle, made in Havana for Herman's Store, the well-known tourist shop formerly located at Prado 256, Havana, Cuba. Dating to approximately the 1930s–1950s, the bottle originally contained Crema Banano, a Cuban banana-flavoured liqueur.

The moulded clear glass bottle takes the form of a Cuban male dancer or musician dressed in a colourful rumba-style costume and carrying a small drum. The figure is extensively hand decorated in red, cobalt blue and black enamel.

His costume has dramatically ruffled sleeves outlined in blue, a red neck scarf and sash, white trousers and black shoes. A small drum is moulded against his side and decorated in red and black. The figure wears a broad-brimmed hat that forms the neck of the bottle.

The bottle retains its original red-painted cork stopper, together with remnants of its original paper seal or Cuban liquor tax strip around the neck.

A small original label on the front reads:

CREMA BANANO

More importantly, much of the original manufacturer's paper label survives on the reverse. It identifies the bottle as having been:

Manufactured & Bottled exclusively for: HERMAN'S STORE
Cigars, Liquors, Perfumes and Novelties
Prado St. 256 – Habana, Cuba

The lower portion identifies Compañía Licorera de Cuba, S.A. of Havana as the producer.

Herman's Store was a prominent Havana retailer catering particularly to tourists and sold cigars, liquors, perfumes, Cuban novelties and souvenirs. Contemporary tourist literature identifies the store at Prado 256, opposite the Sevilla-Biltmore Hotel, and by 1956 described Herman's as having been a destination for visitors to Havana for approximately 25 years. The store ceased to exist in 1959 as all private enterprise was nationalized in Cuba at that time.

Other surviving Herman's Store figural liquor bottles are known with different liqueur labels, including Menta Verde, suggesting that these colourful figural bottles were produced as a series of Cuban souvenir liquor containers. An exceptionally similar example depicting a rumba dancer with a drum has been identified as a 1930s–1940s Herman's Store bottle manufactured by Compañía Licorera de Cuba., however, I would allow that this may date to the 1950s 

Measurements:

Height including cork: 12 inches

Condition: The bottle is in very good condition. There are no chips or cracks. The hand-painted decoration is thickly applied and intact with no noted wear. The original paper labels show age-related wear, staining and losses but remain substantially legible, less so for the seal label. The original cork stopper is present. Please refer to the photographs for details.

An unusual surviving example of pre-revolutionary Cuban commercial and tourist history, combining a figural liquor bottle, hand-painted decoration and original Herman's Store Havana labels.

Unfortunately, this cannot be shipped to the US due to its embargo on all things Cuban.