Page 23 - BBR July 5 2020 Auction

70. CODD’S PATENT BODY PINCH OVATE. 7.3ins long, aqua glass. Perhaps seen as a ‘hybrid’ by todays collectors this bottle carries two extraordinary retaining pinches in the lower body section to, hopefully, hold back the marble when pouring out the pop! Embossed ‘CODD’S PATENT / 4/ MAKERS / RYLANDS & CODD / BARNSLEY’. An extremely rare Codd Patent 4 variant, the same one illust’d on p92 of ‘Saving the
Fizz’ by David Jones. Taking all this into account the present bottle probably dates to about 1878. We are not aware of another extant example of this unique survivor? Some body wear. though no real damage. (8/10) NR £1,500-2,000+
In October 1877 Hiram Codd was issued with a new patent (October 22nd, pat
no 3903) placing retaining lugs within the body of the bottle rather than in a neck chamber illustrating the patent with a diagram of a cylindrical bottle - no examples have been found of that shape. The lugs were symmetrical and converging to channel the stopper as it rolled to the neck. This bottle has shorter ridges but the function is clearly the same. The embossing tells us it was Codd’s patent rather than one lodged jointly with Dan Ryland but was made at the Hope glassworks, Barnsley, under their partnership with him that began in 1876. The numbers following the word ‘patent’, in this case ‘4’, are believed represent the licence granted to the maker of the bottle - Ryland. The specific ‘Rylands & Codd’ embossing used dates between 1877-81. David Jones speculated this bottle was part of an experimental batch (perhaps testing the 1877 patent idea) but it is highly likely it was made to be marketed. There is ample evidence surviving bottles, even very rare ones, would be produced in large quantities, at least in the hundreds, if not more. The 1877 patent probably just proved less efficient, did not sell well and was rapidly
discontinued. The fact no drinks company name is present also suggests a bottle not having found a retailer prepared to commission more under licence?