Anyone would think we were observing the surface of Earth’s moon – but no – what we are looking at is the base of a mystery bottle found beneath the waters of a river.
Martin Richardson is a long-distance follower of Bath Newseum. He lives in Peterborough and writes:
“My name is Martin and i am a keen ‘River Metal Detectorist’. I travel round the counties detecting in rivers and found a interesting bottle which, I have been told, it is a historical bottle and needs further investigation.
This has been reported to my local Finds Liaison Officer, but they are very busy, and l was wondering if I could send you some pictures of the bottle and get your thoughts on it please?’
Let’s see if anyone can Martin!
Send the Picture to Andy McConnell, Antiques roadshow expert. He is on instagram
This is an onion bottle, 17th or 18th century. The glass would originally have been green, but is has corroded quite badly. I can’t help with the seal – that’s going to take some work to track down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_onion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealed_bottles
The seal pattern is the device known as the ‘Borromean Rings’.