Stephens Sons & Co. Bottle

[NORG]

Does anyone know the approximate age of this bottle? It reads Stephens Sons & Co...Gloucester, and the name sort of runs off the bottle. It has some sort of symbols on the bottom which look like roman numerals.

 

[KentOhio]

could be around 1900-1910. It looks like a rip off of the Lea & Perrin's Worchestershire sauce.

 

[NORG]

I thought it might be older because it has so many imperfections like the embossing running off the bottle, many bubbles, blob top, etc.

 

[bottlebank]

more photos

 

[NORG]

Close-up of the neck. It sort of has a half crown and half blob top. And the seam runs about 1/4 way up the neck.

 

[NORG]

Close-up of embossing.

 

[NORG]

And the bottom...(sorry about the bad pic).

 

[KentOhio]

Oh, it's definitely old and handmade. But the pre-1903 rule is for American bottles. I think England, Canada, and Australia continued to make handblown bottles well after that.

 

[NORG]

Ok, thanks for the info KentOhio. Do you know what the symbols on the bottom mean? I think the first two is the roman numeral for 9, not sure about the rest though.

Rob

 

[KentOhio]

I don't know. Usually, marks on the bottom of bottles were used to identify the glass factory or the particular mold.