"Admiralty Arrow Antique Glass Bottles"

Medicinal or Apothecary Bottles of the British Military

ship's doctor's medicine chest

 A ship's doctor would store his medicines in a wooden partitioned box, each bottle with a number indicating it's contents.

Since these bottles would be refilled each time the ship returned to port, the bottles are scarce.   This example is not an actual military chest, but is included to give an idea how the bottles might be stored in the surgeons quarters.
SQUARE RECTANGULAR VIALS OTHER
SQUARE Apothecary or Medicine Bottles marked with the Admiralty Arrow:

Square Clear medicine bottles with admiralty arrow

colourless Square Apothecary 8

 #401001:  Colourless Square Apothecary 8

2.6 cm square

Height 9.5 cm, with stopper 11.4 cm

Two of these bottles were found together under a house being demolished on the Songhees reserve in the 1970's.  The reserve is next to the Esquimalt naval base.  

 

Colourless Square Apothecary 22

 #401012:  Colourless Square Apothecary 22

3.4 cm square

Height 11.5 cm, with stopper 13.1 cm 

 

Colourless Square Apothecary 5

 #401013:  Colourless Square Apothecary 5

 

Diameter: 3.9 cm square

Height: 13.4 cm,  with stopper: 15.5 cm

 

Colourless Square Apothecary 4

 #401014:  Colourless Square Apothecary 4

Diameter: 5.2 cm. square     Height: 15.0 cm.

Very similar in size to the 8 oz square poison but marked 4?

Colourless Square Apothecary 4

12 1/2 apothecary

 #401016:  Colourless Square Apothecary 12 1/2

This colourless square bottle is marked 12 1/2 over the arrow.

Diameter: 7.3 cm. square

Height: 18.9 cm, 19.2 cm with stopper

 

colourless Square Apothecary 17 1/2

 

 #401015:  Colourless Square Apothecary 17 1/2

This colourless square bottle is marked 17 1/2 over the arrow.

Diameter: 7.3 cm. square

Height: 18.9 cm, 19.2 cm with stopper

A photo of one of these bottles that was found in New Zealand was provided by Geoff Clarke.

close-up Square Apothecary 17 1/2Square Apothecary 17 1/2
RECTANGULAR Apothecary
aqua medicines

Chemist bottle with arrow

#401010:    Aqua chemist type bottle - small volume markings

marked with arrow

??? 3.7 X 6.2 cm.  Height: 16.0 cm

.close-up of marking arrow

 

W.D. arrow medicine

#401011:

Details: Aqua chemist type bottle - large volume markings

WD and arrow on side,  Marked K?033

?????  3.3 X 5.6 cm.

Height: 15.0 cm.

 

Aqua chemist W.D. no volume markings

 #401012:   Aqua chemist type bottle "W.D."- no volume markings

With W.D. base marked K6228

??? 3.7 X 6.2 cm.     Height: 17.0 cm.

close-up of "W.D" and arrow.

medicine with arrow marking

 #401013: Aqua chemist type bottle - medium volume markings

marked with arrow

3.3 X 5.5 cm.

Height: 15.0 cm.

 

Geoff Clarke from New Zealand kindly sent me this photo taken from the Australian Antique Bottle Collector magazine.

The bottle was made for the Launceston Hospital in Tasmania, Australia.  It is interesting to note that the Government arrow was used on a hospital bottle.  This was likely during the first World War, when a number of Australian hospitals sent nursing staff to help with the wounded.  The hospital might well have provided some supplies as well as with the staff, which may have been marked as this example is marked, as government property.
VIALS:

#401020:

 Colourless medicinal type vial with "WD"

(War Department?)

Diameter: 2.5 cm.    Height: 9.0 cm.

medicine with "D" and arrow.

#501024:  Description: Round solarized (purple) medicinal type bottle, pre 1914.

With D in a circle. This bottle would have been clear to start.

Diameter: 5.3 cm.     Height: 17.0 cm.

Closeup of "D" and arrow mark

vial has an anchor embossed under the arrow

 This vial has an anchor embossed under the arrow.

This bottle was found in Atlantic Canada.

 

 

 

 This small vial is marked with an F over the arrow.

This photo was taken with permission in the Naden Naval Museum, Esquimalt, B.C.

This was one of my original collection that I donated to the Museum and had been acquired from divers who claim it had been found in Esquimalt Harbour.

vial with "E" over the arrow

 This small vial is marked with an E over the arrow.

Recovered in Bermuda.

The E on this bottle may stand for Engineering and possibly contained something like a fine lubricating oil.

 

 

arrow bottle with pontil mark on base

This photo was provided by a collector from Atlantic Canada.

Although dimensions were  were not provided the vial appears to be quite small. The contributor stated the bottle has a pontil mark on the bottle which would date it to some time prior to 1850.

 

Chloroform vial and case

 Chloroform vial in a case, marked with the admiralty arrow, circa 1910

Royal Navy Hospital

 #501025

Siphon bottle from Royal Navy Hospital Haslar, England.  Manufactured by Barnett & Foster, London. 

The base has an offset Owen's ring and the base was also ground flat to stand properly.  It has 12 fluted sides. The bottle likely dates to prior to or during the Second World War.  Although it may have originally had a metal top, nylon was extensively used during WWII to free up metal for the war effort.

Height: 30 cm                           Diameter 9.5 cm.
OTHER Marked items

sauce bottle with WD and arrow

 #401025:  Aqua Apothecary or Sauce bottle - unusual with the marking on the base with WD arrow reversed as if a mirror image.  All of the bottles I have seen of this sort have turned up near Esquimalt. 

Diameter: 4.6 diameter     Height: 21.5 cm.

sauce bottle with WD and arrow

feeder with admiralty mark

 

 Invalid Feeder found in Esquimalt estate sale. 

H and Arrow on base

Royal Navy Hospital button

 Royal Navy Hospital (R.N.H.) tunic button. Recovered by Wess Thompson in Kingston Ontario during an addition to Queens University.  The button dates to the early 19th century and may well be contemporary with the war of 1812. It is the only button from the Royal Navy that has the broad arrow and is a close match the glass seal found at the British Naval Hospital, English Harbour, on the island of Antigua . The glass seal also dates to the early 19th century. In this case the broad arrow seems to denote more than just government property and is being worn by medical staff themselves.

 

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