| "Admiralty Arrow Antique Glass Bottles" | ||||||
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The following are notes from Bermuda archaeologist Chriss Addams with regard to the sealed black glass bottles used by the British Military. Chriss is working on a book "The Devil Resides in this Place".
'There
is no direct quote for the Sealed Black Glass, (To Date-I am still digging) however,
in twenty years no one has disputed my logical research or documentary
evidence---the mention of "London Treakle" is taken directly from
Volume three of "Medicine of the Navy" Lloyd and Coulter,
P376. Listing of Pharmeceutical Supplies for the Navy. Major General John B.
Richardson mentions that on." A Visit to Haslar (RNH) 1916". "The
men would stand anything (operation) when promised a drink of spirits and
opium" The operation room smelt of it! '
'Tyne
Glass Houses by Margaret Ellison: mentions and depicts special orders from the
Admiralty for variations of the Royal Cypher/Broad Arrow seals."
'I
have a few other quotes to add to the evidence---my favourite in my research on
the Prison Hulks. -----The prisoners with self inflicted injuries (An effort to
get off work or if really bad returned back to the UK---most were usually
flogged for their duplicity ---they were then housed on the top decks near the
heads--so that other prisoners/officers would not be kept up all night by
their pitiful screams --they were given plenty of spiced up opium to keep
them relatively quiet. They were also flogged for "missing work"
WE found no true medicine bottles in this area---'
'The
"medic" (such as he was) was housed near the stern with the other
officers
The stern of the Dromedary is where we found all the medical supplies and
pewter uretherals etc.
The only Bottles we found in the
forward area were the "Sealed" Gallon Black Glass.'
'When
you think of it --there must have been one hell of a market for the stuff--hence
the seals and the threat of a flogging ----if caught with illicit supplies!!'
'Lime
Juice was kept in unsealed bottles specifically labeled "Limejuice"
---made by the same bottle manufacturer.
Fresh fruit was always the
pre-requisite.'
If you wish to follow up on Chriss’s work and his current exhibit in Australia check out the website below.
http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/exhibitions/exhibitions/convict_hulk2| BLACK GLASS & SEALS | |
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Photo courtesy of Roger Pellow of the Antique Wine Bottle and Black Glass Collectors Club |
Description: Admiralty arrow seal found in Plymouth England and it probably dates to around 1810. Diameter: 6.5 cm Height: 17.5 cm
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#601010:
Description: Admiralty arrow anchor seal Circa: 1790 Diameter: 7 cm Height: 22 cm
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Early Admiralty seal found in Bermuda circa 1810.
Photo courtesy of Robert Power, Connecticut.
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#601015: Description: Black glass lime juice bottle with VR and an anchor on the seal, found in the Caribbean, circa 1860. Diameter: 11.3 cm. Height: 26.0 cm. Seal diameter 3.3 cm
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#601016: Description: Black glass lime juice bottle with VR and an anchor on the seal found in Bermuda, with a smaller seal than the previous bottle. Diameter: 11.3 cm Height: 26.0 cm Seal Diameter 3.0 cm
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Description: Black glass lime juice bottle with "Lime Juice" on side and a large broad arrow. Photo courtesy of the Antique Wine Bottle and Black Glass Collectors Club (Bottle found in Guangzhou China) Original photo by Richard Somerville
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#601017:
Description: Black glass lime juice bottle with "Lime Juice" on side and a large broad arrow from a Florida collection Diameter 11 cm Height 26 cm
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Description: Black glass lime juice bottle with "GR" on the seal which stands for George Rex. Diameter: 11.2 cm. Height: 27.0 cm. Photo courtesy of the Antique Wine Bottle and Black Glass Collectors Club
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Description: Black glass lime juice bottle with "GR" on the seal which stands for George Rex, similar to the above bottle. This bottle could potentially date as early as the Revolutionary War period. Diameter: 10.2 cm. Height: 27.9 cm. This is a photo of a bottle auctioned by Eldred's auction in Massachusetts in 2007. |
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Black glass seal with WR and arrow from the reign of
William IV - Rex This partially restored example was found in the Coromandel area of the north island of New Zealand. Photo kindly provided by Geoff Clarke
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"Navy Hospital"
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These three seals were all
found in during salvage archaeology near the British Naval Hospital, English
Harbour, on the island of Antigua. Started in 1725, English Harbor would become
the most important British Naval facility in the entire Caribbean Sea, reaching
its zenith during the Napoleonic Wars that ended in 1815.
"Most all the seals in this museum were discovered on June 6, 1980, when a bulldozer was preparing a private house site overlooking English Harbour, under the brow of Hospital Hill. To clear the bush, a layer of approximately 20 feet of soil was removed exposing a few artifacts. A car turnaround was then cut in the side of the hill nearby, exposing more refuse. Archaeological Society members managed to persuade the bulldozing to stop for a day, in order to allow as many artifacts as possible to be recovered. Unfortunately there are no antiquity laws in Antigua, so the site was destroyed the next day, without proper scientific investigation." Desmond Nicholson,
curator of the museum at Nelson's Dockyard explains. "The letters 'G.R.'
stand for 'Georgius Rex', or King George, III of England, (1760 - 1820), and the
anchor denotes government property." At
that time the broad arrow mark was known by the working class as the 'devil's
claw', and could convict anyone found in possession without good cause.
Thanks to Antique Bottle and Glass Collector Magazine and their web article “Antigua an Island with a Past-Found in Antigua Bottles” http://glswrk-auction.com/106.htm for the photos and above information.
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The following was provided by Mark Nightingale at earlyglass.com. This is a rare example of a half size bottle bearing a seal to the mid body with the name J. Baikie and initials RN (Royal Navy). The bottle is black glass with a deep conical kickup and a rough sand pontil, whittled straight sides, to horizontal mold line, round shoulders to long narrow neck through conjoined double downtooled applied stringrim and lip. Height: 9 1/4” (23.5 cm) Diameter: 2 5/8” (6.7 cm)
Captain John Baikie Royal Navy was father of the famous William Balfour Baikie, the Scottish adventurer. It seems obvious Captain Baikie had personally paid to have these bottles bearing his name along with the R.N. The most likely made up his personal supply on board the ship. To date I know of no other of examples like this. |
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