Objects
Jack, Bottle
Alcohol
Consumption
4800ml
[Taken from catalogue entry]
A mid-seventeenth-century embossed leather bombard with a handle, of irregular form, with a crown and fleur de lis design, ‘TP’ within a shield and dated ‘1662’. With a hinged lid on the bottle.
The bombard or leather bottle as they were also known acted as a robust, waterproof container for water and alcoholic beverages. They were widely praised in contemporary drinking songs such as ‘A Pleasant New Song, in Praise of a Leather Bottel’ (see EBBA ref), and the name ‘The Leather Bottle’ was a popular one for alehouses, taverns and inns.
Drinks were offered to customers in small, tankard-shaped leather vessels or ‘black jacks’, though the size of this bottle, and its lid, would suggest that it was used for serving rather than direct drinking.
Ale was made from malted barley, and was a staple drink during this period.
It is quite common to find examples of bottles marked with initials, names, coats of arms and dates. This might function in the same way as marking tankards and wine bottles, which might be used in public places, and therefore, ownership needed to be marked.
[The capacity of the vessel, 4800ml, does not equate easily to any official capacity or variant thereof, but is closest to a gallon of ale/beer (4621ml)]
Production
Dates of Production: exact 1662
Consumer
T P
[Not specified]
Materials
Leather
Museological Details
D.O.O/5
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