Bottle, wine bottle

Dark-green glass wine bottles were made in large quantities at glasshouses in Ratcliff, Southwark and Vauxhall. In the home, wine was stored in glass bottles. When empty, they were sent to the vintner to be refilled from barrels. Some bottles had glass seals to identify their owners. In 1665, Samuel Pepys wrote: ‘I saw my new bottles, made with my new crest upon them, filled with wine, about five or six dozen of them’.

This small wine bottle was made in dark natural green glass. It has a bulbous body with rounded basal edge. On its base there is a pointed kick and unpolished pontil mark. The long neck has an applied collar set below the rim. The stamped seal on the body reads 'CP 1686' and is centred within a circle.