Mystery bottles.......

[sbowloc]

I have here 2 bottles found off of the Australian coast, by a fellow collector, and one contained a "honey like liquid" believed to be Mel Rosarum. The sideways anchor has been confirmed as British Navy and although these bottles were found in the same dive they could very well be from different ships. I will upload a pic of the pontil marks and some measurements if needed but the important question is what do the seals and markings represent. Thanks

 

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[HuntinDog]

Sorry can't answer your question on the seal or embossing.
Very cool finds.
Awesome bottles.

 

[4x4x4]

I have here 2 bottles found off of the Australian coast, by a fellow collector, and one contained a "honey like liquid" believed to be Mel Rosarum. The sideways anchor has been confirmed as British Navy and although these bottles were found in the same dive they could very well be from different ships. I will upload a pic of the pontil marks and some measurements if needed but the important question is what do the seals and markings represent. ThanksView attachment 1489547View attachment 1489548

.?.?.?.
Australian Antique Bottle Collector
Reward of $550aud to anyone solving the mystery of the small Sealed bottle I dived last year.
.?.?.?.

 

[coinman123]

.?.?.?.
Australian Antique Bottle Collector
Reward of $550aud to anyone solving the mystery of the small Sealed bottle I dived last year.
.?.?.?.

I get the reward if I solve it right . Ehh, What the heck, I would donate it to Tnet, instead of blowing it on some more metal detecting equipment lol!

 

[coinman123]

I emailed the website my theory, and the link to this post so he can read the responses people came up with. I don't really care about a reward, I just want to solve the mystery .

My email to him:
"...perhaps the WM R stands for William and Mary Regina/Rex, who ruled England in the late 1600's and early 1700's? The anchor probably represents the British navy. Were there any exporting/importing British ships around there in the late 1600's or early 1700's?..."

 

[coinman123]

Wait, I just saw this diagram, it looks like this type of bottle is from after 1770. It can't be William and Mary then...

 

[Blak bart]

Post in bottles and glass forum there are many there that can help. Harry pristis and many others there will help figure it out. Looks early 1800s to me dont know what the seals mean , but good working theory by coinman !! They sure are beautiful, what a find !!

 

[Dug]

If you Facebook, there is a group called "Earlyglass for sale and show". They are a closed group that you can request to join. They only discuss and post pre 1850 period glass. Bet they could shed some light on what you have.

 

[sbowloc]

I've spoken to Tom at coffin island glass and have emailed researchers all over the UK, including the Museums at Greenwich and Portsmouth so am hoping for ideas from them as well. I have also spoken to a fella called Mark who runs a really interesting pirate/navel website who confirmed the sideways anchor is British Navy. I'm determined to solve this simply because it's driving me mad. I'm not interested in the money and would not accept it from a fellow collector just for helping out with some info. Here's a link to the page Australian Antique Bottle Collector ,the only thing I ask is if someone solves the mystery please let me know.
Thanks for all the ideas I'll start chasing them up and keep ya posted.

 

[coinman123]

I've spoken to Tom at coffin island glass and have emailed researchers all over the UK, including the Museums at Greenwich and Portsmouth so am hoping for ideas from them as well. I have also spoken to a fella called Mark who runs a really interesting pirate/navel website who confirmed the sideways anchor is British Navy. I'm determined to solve this simply because it's driving me mad. I'm not interested in the money and would not accept it from a fellow collector just for helping out with some info. Here's a link to the page Australian Antique Bottle Collector ,the only thing I ask is if someone solves the mystery please let me know.
Thanks for all the ideas I'll start chasing them up and keep ya posted.

Maybe try the British Museum, I have asked them a couple questions about artifacts, and they answered every one of them within two days. Good luck! I hope you solve it!

 

[CRUSADER]

Colin,
Can't help with the IDs but they look great & please update us with any info on here?

 

[sutphin]

SWEEEET BOTTLE NEW MEMBER AND WELCOME TO THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY , TNET

 

[katefactor]

I emailed the website my theory, and the link to this post so he can read the responses people came up with. I don't really care about a reward, I just want to solve the mystery .

My email to him:
"...perhaps the WM R stands for William and Mary Regina/Rex, who ruled England in the late 1600's and early 1700's? The anchor probably represents the British navy. Were there any exporting/importing British ships around there in the late 1600's or early 1700's?..."

Hi have just joined your group as a result of Coinman's email, thank you for taking the time to have a look at these bottles, it is much appreciated. Firstly, should mention I have posted these on most of the Bottle websites around the world including the Ozbottle Forum of which I am Co Administrator, the Earlyglass Facebook site, contacted Tom @ Coffinisland as well as David Burton who produced the the fabulous Antiques Sealed Bottles books but sadly to no avail. These 2 bottles don't seem to conform to any known style or shape, you could say an anomaly. My best guess to age is 1830-1840 for the embossed one and earlier for the sealed version. They both have WMR embossed (not WMI) and the Fouled anchor however one has 4 Rs and the other sealed one is either 6 Rs, & Rs or E Rs. its hard to tell exactly what that symbol is however with one being a 4 then you would lean toward the number. The 4 may actually be the "sign of four" as in say an alchemy symbol too. The sealed one was dived by me in Australia and the other one was dived in the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain from what I was told by the previous owner.
William & Mary was my first base for research but the bottles aren't old enough and a hundred years later is probably too long for WMR to be referring to regency act.

The Mel Rosa is just a guess to contents after looking early Apothecary's, might have been part of a surgeons chest or even a Ration bottle as in Wardroom Mess Ration but again this is purely conjecture. They are both approx 1/4 pint so quite small. My best chance I believe is through websites such as yours in the hope someone can work it out or finds an ad or something from a document mentioning it.

I have been on this pretty much every day for the last 2 and a half years an so far nothing apart from a headache lol

Cheers Phil

 

[Blak bart]

Wow.....seems you have a real anomoly in the bottle world. I like the whole med chest theory. Bottles are the right size for that line of thinking. My other thought was somthing ship related that was provided by the builders. Maybe a special treatment or addative that was provided by the ship builder for some working system on the boat. ?? Im just reaching for somthing at this point. Try posting in the bottle section like I mentioned before. Great story.

 

[katefactor]

Are you talking about a bottles and glass section on here or another website. Any chance of a link to the particular one

 

[coinman123]

Are you talking about a bottles and glass section on here or another website. Any chance of a link to the particular one

Here is the link, good luck getting an ID, it helps to try everywhere!

Bottles & Glass

Amazing finds! Hard to find anything complete, or with original contents still in it!