Page 35 - BBR magazine 140 - 30yrs issue

Above L: ‘Chriftor:/ Gill/ 1686’, within a beaded border, the earliest dated sealed bottle that can probably be attributed to Devonshire. Above R: ‘George/ & ∙Ann/ Brown/ 1708’, a half size onion bottle - the earliest year that a woman’s name features on a seal.
Above L: ‘Mary/ Rayes’ within a lined border, above R: ‘I/ Bennett / 1727’ oval bladder another unusual find in Berry Brother extensive collection.
within a lined border. An onion bottle c.1715 with the sole name of a woman is rare. The attractive trignum (three bottle size)
‘I/ Bennett/ 1727’ oval Bladder was another unusual find. The early armorial sealed bottle with the King arms: on a chevron engrailed, three escallops, crest: a talbot
dog’s head erased, ‘MK’ flanking, with elaborate mantling is full of aged character. It is dated c.1710- 1720 and has been attributed to a member of the King
family of Ashby Hall, Ashby de la Launde, Lincolnshire;
bottle is worth?” I
asked, “no” came the
response. “It’s a very
early London tavern
bottle from an Antelope
tavern,” I said, “so
probably in excess of
£10,000” [more today
says AB, everyone
would like a sealed shaft
& globe! An in seal
dated bottle is likely to
be over £20,000.
Several of the Berry
Bros bottles shown here
have significant damage
but the pedigree
provenance would lift
even those].
I was amazed at the discovery so early in my visit, and I think Simon was amazed at the value because the next time I visited all the bottles had been removed from ‘storage’, cleaned and washed, and now housed in new cabinets in the directors’ dining room. I subsequently discovered that many of the bottles were sealed once I had removed the dust and cobwebs, feeling, perhaps, that I should have worn some older clothes for the visit! I had similar experiences in the cellars of many of our museums where particular bottles could not be found or were shoved in drawers or cubicles and had long been forgotten.
The quality of the Berry Bros collection of sealed bottles and early English pottery reflected the taste of Francis Berry, grandfather of the present Chairman, a connoisseur of English glass as well as fine wine. He was an avid collector with eclectic tastes but he took a great deal of interest in the sealed wine bottles in the collection built-up over many years, some perhaps being sourced from their clientele.
Some of the more noteworthy examples include ‘CR’ crowned, a King’s head, crowned and affrontée/ 1661 - a shaft and globe bottle dated c.1670-1675 with a remarkable history (see the book - image above L!). Then there’s the seal ‘Chriftor:/ Gill/ 1686’, within a beaded border, the earliest dated sealed bottle that can probably be attributed to Devonshire, excavated at Polsloe Priory, home to the Ailsworth family who owned the Priory in the late 17th century.
‘George/ & Ann/ Brown/ 1708’, a half size (bright green glass, see above) onion bottle, is the earliest year a woman’s name features on a seal, ‘Mary/ Rayes’
Left & above: The early armorial sealed with the King arms: on a chevron engrailed, three escallops, crest: a talbot dog’s head erased, ‘MK’ flanking. Dated c.1710-1720, attributed to a member of the King family of Ashby Hall, Ashby de la Launde, Lincolnshire.
the initials M K have not been identified as yet.
The single piece of English pottery featured in their collection is c.1660 and associated with one of the better known alehouses in London, the Cock in the Strand, near Temple Bar. Described as a ‘notable place of refreshment capable of attracting the well to do’, managed in a way that was more akin to a tavern than an alehouse, one of the most prestigious of Londons alehouses in the 17th century, popular with the gentry for over two
centuries, confirmation perhaps that the strict line of demarcation between taverns, inns and alehouses was being eroded? The initials ‘HC’ relate to Henry Cooke who was the alehouse keeper and the seal was amongst those excavated at John Dwight’s Fulham Pottery (English Heritage account, p230). Ye Olde Cock tavern exists today on the south side of Fleet Street, rebuilt across the road in 1888 when a branch of the Bank of England was built on the original site.
Chapter Eight of my book is ‘Sealed Bottles in Major Public Collections’ Although the BBR collection is not in the public domain, a favoured BBR client, or future researcher may be able to arrange a visit to view much of
Left: The single piece of English pottery featured is dated c.1660 and can be associated with one of the better-known ale-houses in London, the Cock alehouse, the Strand, near Temple Bar.
which is now on display.
© David Burton 2014
Berry Brothers & Rudd
As David recalls the firm were at first primarily grocers, dealers in tea and coffee, and this explains the oddity of a wine merchant with a coffee mill for trade mark. The widow Bourne’s daughter married William Pickering but when he died she, like her mother, ran St James until her sons could take it on. Highly appropriate for an article on sealed bottles, the two boys also ran a heraldic arms painting business next door. When John Pickering died in 1754 his brother brought in a relation John Clarke as a partner and it was his daughter’s marriage to an Exeter wine merchant called Berry that brought George Berry into the firm, aged 16, in 1810. With his wine background the firm moved in that direction and when his sons George Jr and Henry took over in 1845 the name Berry Bros was born. Hugh Rudd was from a Norwich wine merchant family established in 1851 and joined the firm in 1920. Cutty Sark Scotch Whisky was invented by them in 1923, with an iconic label designed by Scottish artist James McBey, and became hugely popular in the American market, shipping to the Bahamas, a popular stop for smugglers during prohibition.
35