Page 30 - BBR magazine 140 - 30yrs issue

Going to start off this little round up by
possibly disappointing the buyer of this banana-like bottle who, no doubt
attracted by the Diamond Registry mark on the base, bought it hoping for a rare ink no
shoemakers: ink is an elastic term that can strictly be extended to cover hat and shoe dies, blacking and leather stain as well as writing and printing. Notice the “Half price given for Old Ink Bottles” and “chopin bottles” – Scots for bottles of roughly one quart each.
This entirely unknown round cottage has not the Diamond Mark of
Edward Tombs of London
(who registered it) but the
embossed letters ‘HC&Co’ on the base. There are four versions now (thatched, unthatched, side store). HC&Co is not easy to research; there was a printing ink company
doubt?
The shape is one that does appear in
America where it is also usually described
as an ink (embossed ‘PATENTED’
and ‘1876’, Covill, fig.712) but
actually this is a glue bottle
registered in 1877 to Emile August
Thompson of Strangeways in Manchester specifically as a ‘Gum or Mucilage bottle’. This is the first Diamond
marked example. The firm of Maw registered a
side-laying gum bottle in 1874 and the name
‘Thompson’ appears as a partner of Maw from
1870.
Above & L: The unrecorded round cottage ink with ‘H C & Co’ embossed to the base.
Above: The banana shaped glass gum bottle purchased from eBay probably as an ink?
Another eBay seller had a whole series of nice
rare aqua embossed inks and unusual items. I’m singling out two. First, this little gem (£70) tinged in palest blue. Embossed to the base is LILLIE’S [cd to edge]/ INK/ AGENTS/ PEARCE & Co [edge] this is Charles W Bream Pearce & Co of
Glasgow and is the second I’ve
seen (Mark Simmonds has a
crisper aqua version). Charles
W Bream Pearce (died 1907),
a former fire insurance
manager, who was an active
socialist and friend of Keir
Hardie. His wife Isabella
(Bella) was a socialist and
feminist who from 1894
wrote the 'Matrons and Maidens'
column in the 'Labour Leader'
under the pseudonym 'Lily
Bell' and ‘Lillie’s [sic] ink was
presumably a spin off.
called Heywood, Clark
& Co in Liverpool but it might just as easily be a glass blower.
Next up is this very important version of what I prefer to call the ‘Aunt Sally’ inkwell from the Dudley Davidson collection. As far as I’m aware this is the first marked example having ‘H Cutmore / 1866’ hand
inscribed to the base. Quite likely a Bourne piece but this is the first clue. The Davidson collection includes several other open mouth curiosities which are shown below the ‘Aunt Sally’ here.
Left: The ‘Aunt Sally’ ink (possibly Bourne?) from the Dr Dudley Davidson Collection, and above the base inscribed ‘H Cutmore/ 1866.’
Above: Lillies Ink - the image of the lady herself, plus Mark Simmonds version.
The same seller had this very curious ‘tall’ boat, very rarely seen and keenly fought to £45.50 which for a plain aqua boat is going some.
The fun little 1849 advert shown here for Johnston’s ink is full of nice details. His penny ink was sold in “bottles larger than the penny bottles of any other Ink- maker” he claimed. His waterproof ink was
used to mark casks, boxes and bales and he sold ink for
Above: Johnston’s advert of 1849 - with products from “... a penny to two shillings each.
Above & Left: Three other ‘open mouthed’ inks from the Dr Dudley Davidson Collection, these to be included in BBR’s July 6th UK SummerNational auction.
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Ink Spots