Antique Wine Bottles
The 5th Earl of Bedford was recorded as purchasing several hogsheads of 'Shably'
for his cellar in 1658 whilst at the same time investing in twelve dozen bottles
to accommodate it. Even Samuel Pepys felt it worthy of recording that in 1663 he
visited 'The Mitre' to see his personal bottles being filled.
The first verifiable mention of domestic bottle production seems to have been something
of a catch all when in 1632 Sir Robert Mansell acquired the sole patent for the
making of "broade glasses, looking glasses, bottles or vessells made of glass of
any fashion, stuffe, matter or metal whatsoever". Before the century ended there
were thirty eight bottle houses in the Britain producing in excess of two million
bottles each one at a time!
It is perhaps fair to mention at this point that whilst the earliest 'mass produced'
bottles were of a free blown 'shaft and globe' type, a sort of balloon with a long
neck, an effort towards continuity and speed was developed with the advent of the
so called 'onion' bottle, a short and squat version of the same, when a cup shaped
wooden mould was developed to enable glass blowers to produce a consistent size
and shape, but not thickness of bottle.
I can't speak for you, but in spite of this seemingly rudimentary advance two million
hand crafted bottles seems to me a gargantuan amount. Bottles were not cheap things
the Earl of Bedford paid 3s 6d for a dozen plain ones, but the application of a
circular seal bearing his crest came at a premium 5s a dozen. As a status symbol
and to prevent theft they were considered as being worthwhile even when you consider
what an unholy equation alcohol, brittle glass and merry making can be; indeed the
Earl's predecessor the 2nd Duke when raised as a Knight of the Garter suffered the
loss or breakage of nineteen dozen bottles at his inaugural banquet!
The earliest existing sealed bottle is marked for John Jefferson and is dated 1652
although somewhat enigmatically a much earlier bottle for 'CBK 1562' is mentioned
in an early polemic as being unearthed in Chester in 1939, but alas this seems to
have gone the way of many of the Earl of Bedford's bottles and is now lost to time!
Practicality rather than beauty provided the next advance in shape for the wine
bottle when the 'onion' bottle was flattened to produce an oval 'bladder' shaped
wine bottle – one with a smaller foot that allowed the storage of more bottles per
square foot when stood upright on cellar shelves as was the custom during a period
when it was still customary for gentleman of a certain stature to entertain in their
private cellars rather than the dining room.
All subsequent changes were equally as subtle, the 'mallet' was a sort of squat
basically more cylindrical shape, but with a longer more defined neck which neatly
provided the transition towards the cylinder shaped bottles when it became the norm
to store wine in bottles horizontally rather than on their bases.
By the end of the century and into the nineteenth the 'cylinder' was the shape of
preference and here perhaps the transition into sameness and mass production finally
arrived with the advent of a three piece iron mould patented by Henry Ricketts of
Bristol, arguably this provided much less interesting vessels, but wholly more predictable
ones for those who were more interested in the contents rather than the bottle.
- Antique Wine Bottles
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About the Author
 | Nic Saintey
Ceramics and Glass
Nic Saintey is a Director of Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, with responsibility for marketing and advertising. He is also Head of the Ceramics and Glass Department.
Nic Saintey's first career was in the Armed Forces where he served both as a military parachutist and paramedic in Europe, North America, East Africa and the Middle East.
He joined Lawrence’s of Crewkerne in early 1995 before moving to their Taunton branch as a general valuer and saleroom manager.
Nic joined Bearne’s in June 2000 to head up the expanding ceramic department, before joining the Board in 2003. His effervescent nature and wide experience has seen him regularly appear as an expert on the BBC’s Bargain Hunt and Flog It programmes.
He undertakes regular talks and contributes articles to both Devon and Cornwall Life magazines. His interests particularly include pottery in general, but especially that produced in Donyatt and North Devon, he is a keen runner and has recently taken up motor sport at a local circuit.
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Antique Wine Bottles was written on Friday, 2nd January 2009.