Page 11 - Sat 1 & Sun 2 July SummerNational Show w/e Auctions

35. BINOCULARS POISON BOTTLE. (DP p24)3.7ins tall, aqua glass, bluey aqua where thick, square edged lip. BOTTLE Appears like two conjoined cylinders sharing the same neck - basically a fat oval dispensing bottle but with part of the body deeply bisected by a groove on both sides. On the warning embossed side the groove is confined to the lower half with the word ‘POISON’ embossed either side, and above it. On the other side the groove runs right up to near the neck. The figure of eight base is embossed 8482 to one circle
& PATENT/ 1905 to the other. Still the only recorded aqua version in this size? Ex Mike Till & John Ault Collections. Exc/ A1. NR. £3,000- 4,000+
The ‘binocular’ poison bottle was the name given to this bottle by Roy Morgan.
Registered by Dr O Reilly
of Catford in South East
London, it was marketed by Corbyn & Stacey Oxford Street, London (1905) but patented first by Dr G J O Reilly (patent no.8482 20th April 1905). As the British Medical journal commented it looks rather like two conjoined cylinders sharing the same neck. In effect it is a fat oval dispensing bottle but with part of the body deeply bisected by a groove
on both sides. On the warning embossed side the groove is confined
to the lower half with the word ‘POISON’ embossed to either side and above it. On the other side the groove runs right
to the neck. The figure of eight base is embossed ‘8482 // PATENT / 1905’. Exceptionally rare with only four recorded in three sizes and colours: two ice blue bottles (3.5H - one in the Ault Collection), one cobalt blue (4.75H), and two aqua examples (3.5 and 7.25H). To give some idea of how rare these bottles are the small aqua example, which was sick, is reported as having sold for £5,900 in 2008.