TWO BARREL FIGURAL BOTTLES

[David E Dearden]

Harry a little more info Ihave been doing genelogy for about two years now on my name (Dearden) in England and there are at least five or more spellings. One reason being in my Grandfather case, my Greats were at work probally and they were boarders. So I guess when the census taker came around she give him wrong spelling and it was good that we caught it. Bad writing was another.

 

[Harry Pristis]

You are right, David. The Cobbett web-site acknowledges that their extensive family tree includes a number of Corbetts as a result of mis-spellings by various functionaries over the centuries.

-----------Harry Pristis

 

[Harry Pristis]

In the nearly 12 years after this thread was posted, I still haven't learned for certain what these little British jars contained. I have acquired a few more of them, and still look for variants. The "A 6" variant (on the left) seems to be the most common.

Here are the best of them:

​

I have come to believe that these jars did contain meat paste, perhaps something like salted anchovy paste, which might be used in small amounts for flavoring.

Anyone else here know about these jars?

 

[cowseatmaize]

That's the problem with generics. You can't know until a label comes up and if you find more than one labelled, they may show different contents. You could try a shout closer to home like The British Antique Bottle Forum . There may be collectors over the pond that have labelled examples found in basements and such. I know a few are here off and on and even that site lost some to FB but it's worth a try.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Thank you, Eric . . . I'll give it a try.

 

[cowseatmaize]

It can't hurt, I've been a member there for years and one other now defunct British site. Also, some Aussie sites that have a lot of cross posters and still yet, some have migrated to FB.
There are a lot of FB sites now. I stopped joining after a dozen or so and left a bunch because I really don't care to be notified every time someone goes on vacation, has a kid, the cat is laying down, the dog puked and blah, blah. which is what happens every time you join a group or add a "friend". The filtering stinks. I've never been a fan of bragging here but it's times a 1000 there. "Look what I found"!!! No talk or description, just "yeah me"
I like questions like this one. Thank you for reviving it.

 

[andy volkerts]

Meat paste or like Valentines meat juice there is a glass jar with two flat sides, very common in England, and I am blanking on the brand name but I will bet it is the same stuff....Andy

 

[andy volkerts]

I would bet that Alan Austin of AA Auctions in England would know......Andy

 

[cowseatmaize]

That's an idea and Mark is his stated appraiser, another knowledgeable over seas collector. Jerry might know too, he is anther member here but he likes the early stuff too.

Andy, are you thinking of Bovril?

 

[Harry Pristis]

Meat paste or like Valentines meat juice there is a glass jar with two flat sides, very common in England, and I am blanking on the brand name but I will bet it is the same stuff....Andy

Perhaps you're referring to BOVRIL, which was a British beef juice product. Bovril must have been extremely popular at the TOC, judging by the number of bottles that appear on British eBay.

I think the contents of these little (3.75") figural barrels was solid, not liquid, because of the wide mouth. Bovril bottles have constricted necks.

I've made a note of your suggestion of Alan Austin of AA Auctions. Thank you, Andy.