Page 36 - BBR July 5 2020 Auction

145. JOHN ARKLE NEWCASTLE COBALT BLUE HAMILTON. 7.2ins long, bright blue glass 6oz size hamilton.. Embossed ‘JOHN ARKLE’ above a large pictorial trade mark of St George on horseback slaying a dragon ‘TRADE MARK’ to left & right’, ‘MORPETH’ below. Excellent overall with full body sheen, minor body flaw to left of the ‘T’ on the word Trade. An exceptional and important offering. (9/10) NR £2,000-3,000+
This bottle has been thoroughly researched by the late John Yule in his book ‘Nothing but the Blues, Blue Glass Mineral Water
Bottles from North East England’ (pages 24-26, colour plate p59). He rated it “among the most desirable bottles in blue glass from the North East”.
The Mineral water Trade Review & Guardian of July 1885 reported John Arkle (1822-85), a coal agent, started the mineral water company, shortly before his death, for his son Thomas (1853-1890). Thomas’s name appears in 1884 directories at George & Dragon Yard in Morpeth. In 1886 Margaret Arkle (John’s wife or their daughter, also called Margaret then aged 31) is given as the manufacturer but by 1890 she had returned to the coal agency supplying manure and lime. The very
brief time span of the company of about six years (c. 1884-90) explains why
any Arkle bottle is rare. John Yule reported aqua bottles with both Thomas and
Margaret Arkle’s names embossed and for Bell & Black (Margaret’s manager
was William Bell) at the yard which apparently had a pure water spring on the
premises. Yule accounted for four 6oz sizes and one 10oz sizes known (this ex
Malkey collection).
BBR sold an example of the 6oz, with weak embossing, in 2014, July, lot 4.
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