# Better than expected...



## SAbottles (Feb 19, 2011)

I have a "peculiar" marble stoppered bottle which I wanted to know more about, so posted pictures on the British Bottle Forum:


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## SAbottles (Feb 19, 2011)

The embossing on it reads J. C. Cook's Patent  - Bratby & Hinchcliffe Manchester. The bottle is fairly worn & weathered:


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## SAbottles (Feb 19, 2011)

I was pleasantly surprised if not flabbergasted by the responses ![]  It was patented in 1882 and is virtually unknown, other than in patent diagrams. Amazing what lurks amongst the bottles in one's cellar ! I must admit I didn't dig it personally; it was in a collection I bought from an elderly (now deceased) digger. 
 It still has the original rubber washer in the groove in the lip:


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## dmagave (Feb 20, 2011)

NICE.that is an unusual design


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## cyberdigger (Feb 20, 2011)

Fascinating specimen, Dale! Not many of those around here either! I don't suppose it holds more than 250 ml, maybe less, eh?


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## SAbottles (Feb 21, 2011)

Hi, Cyber - you're right, it was hardly more than a spit, as one of the members on here said about another bottle !
 It has raised quite a flutter of interest on the British Forum as you can imagine; a pretty much never before seen patent closure suddenly appearing out of the past. There is a lot of interest in buying it and it's difficult to put a price on it. How does one price a unique bottle ? As you can see from a close up of the embossing, it is decidedly weathered and this will obviously affect the price :


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## rockbot (Feb 21, 2011)

very unusual bottle Dale. It will sell quite well even with the weak embossing. I've noticed that most codd bottles have a weak strike.


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## cowseatmaize (Feb 21, 2011)

Hi Dale, I got back from the UK a while ago. They seem very impressed, don't they. So am I for that matter. The patent info was a nice go-along.


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## llafoe (Feb 21, 2011)

If you sell it in an auction, the buyers will price the bottle for you.


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## SAbottles (Feb 22, 2011)

Cows, thank you so much for going over to have a look, I really appreciate it. No, I definitely won't have it tumbled. The embossing is faint and might well disappear altogether.
 I think I will probably put it into their "For Sale " Thread, open to offers for a set time period. That way they will all have a chance at it (those that have the shekels anyway[]).
 It's quite strange, many collectors never even see a really unique bottle & I have been fortunate enough to have had two !


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## JOETHECROW (Feb 22, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: SAbottles
> As you can see from a close up of the embossing, it is decidedly weathered and this will obviously affect the price :


 
 Hey Dale,...Interesting bottle,...cool that it's rare. It looks as though it may have spent some time in the ocean. It's ironic when a bottle is so unknown that there's no baseline established for it. It does make it tough to price. (I've only been lucky enough to deal with that problem one time so far...)[]


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## SAbottles (Feb 23, 2011)

Hi Joe, yes it is very weathered, but definitely from the dump. It is interesting having a rare one. I had a small blue-lip hybrid Codd which no one had ever heard of. An English collector badgered me until eventually I said "Well, if anyone offered me R7000..." and before I could finish the sentence he said, "When can I come round ?!" I was very pleased with the sum, which translates to $1000+; although he subsequently sold it on for over double that !! It's now part of a collection which one can see on the British Bottle Forum - marked "Only one recorded" !


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## SAbottles (Feb 23, 2011)

Here's a photo of the blue-lip hybrid. Taken a while back, so excuse my hair ( was going through some sort of mid-life crisis & had a ponytail [:'(] !) :


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## cowseatmaize (Feb 23, 2011)

I was looking at the Rand. That's cool money! 
 Just about everywhere else has political or royal figures.


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## surfaceone (Feb 24, 2011)

Hey Dale,

 I'm trying to get a remote feel for this unique guy. Would'ya call that a "bullet stopper" if you were speaking British bottlese?




Borrowed from.

 "Bratby and Hinchliffe
 of Manchester
 1864 Company founded
 1889 Became public company
 1929 Company made private
 1961 Bottlers' engineers manufacturing soft drink and mineral water bottling machines and equipment. 300 employees." From.

 The finish is looking like this one, 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 "Embossed: () CUNNINGHAM & CO / C ( in hollow block letter) / PHILADA // THIS BOTTLE / NOT TO / BE SOLD / () BRATBY & HINCHLIFFE / MANCHESTER //" Thanks Tod.






 "Bratby & Hinchliffe, (approx: 1877-approx: 1900),
 Manchester, England, Occurs on 4 bottles,   
 Manufactured soda bottles.  Bratby & Heinchliffe trademarked a number of images in 1877.  They were aerated water engineers and manufacturing chemists.  Later a branch was opened in London.  The markings are on the reverse heel of the bottle." 






 "Bratby & Hinchliffe Limited, (approx: 1900-approx: 1985),
 Manchester, England, Occurs on 3 bottles,   
 Manufactured soda bottles.  Bratby & Heinchliffe were aerated water engineers and manufacturing chemists.  The markings are on the reverse heel of the bottle." Sodas and Beers.

 "The generators (Figs. 97 and 98), also manufactured by Bratby & Hinchliffe, Manchester, in different sizes, are arranged for steam and manual power. They are made entirely of rolled lead, having only one seam, which is burnt by machinery, thus rendering it impervious to the action of the acid." From.






 "Fig. 97. - Separate Vertical Generator"






 "Fig. 98. - Separate Horizontal Generator."

 Bratby & Hinchcliffe later employed briefly the infamous British Moors murderess, Myra Hindley. 






 "She took a job at Bratby and Hinchliffe, an engineering company in Gorton, but was sacked for absenteeism after six months." From.




From.

 They seem to have been involved with other rare patents.  "13oz Four Way (Dobson) Patent. 
 Embossed on back shoulder "FOUR WAY PATENT" and at the heel 
 "Bratby & Hinchcliffe, 
 London & Manchester. Circa 1885 - 1890's. Extremely Rare patent marble bottle 
 from North Eastern Victoria. 
 (228mm or 9 inches tall)" From.

 I got nowhere fast looking for information on "J. C. Cook's Patent." Can'ya link us to the British discussion? 




From.


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## SAbottles (Feb 24, 2011)

Hi Surface, checked the bottle - no signs that Myra Hindley handled it !! [:'(]
 No, it's not a bullet stopper, it has a marble in it & the original washer is still in place.
 It's on the British Forum - enter britishbottleforum.co.uk, then look at the Forum Help with items (or something like that).It's the thread "Help with strange marble stoppered bottle". There is an interesting diagram of the patent on one entry.


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## TROG (Feb 24, 2011)

Hello Dale.

 Congratulations on a fantastic find and even thoughit is in what you would call poor condition I would possibly think of putting it through Alan Blakemans B B R auctions in the U K as he has a large exposure to many more collectors than those that go on the forums.

 David


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