AN ANTIQUE BOTTLE FROM THE THAMES

An ancient bottle, discarded into the Thames, sees the light of day for the first time in over 300 years!

One of my most recent, and to me, most precious Thames finds sits on my chest of drawers at home. It’s an almost perfect early 18th-century miniature onion-shaped bottle, with only a few chips around the rim of its neck. Dating from around 1720, the dark green glass shimmers with beautiful rainbow colours when the sun shines on it through the window.

It is far from symmetrical, but it is just incredibly beautiful. It is only 12 cm tall and could have held a large glass of wine or a few sips of brandy. As with all my other finds, I like to imagine who might have last held and drunk from it. One thing is certain, though: the person who threw it away after emptying the last drop of its contents could never have imagined the joy it would bring to the person who found it centuries later. 

I still remember the day I found it, because I almost didn't go treasure hunting that day. I had originally arranged to meet a friend in a completely different place to look for finds there. However, she had to cancel and so I decided to go somewhere else on my own. I almost didn't make it far. It started pouring down and the traffic was terrible, so I almost turned back. When I finally arrived and went down to the wet and windy shore, other "mudlarks" were already there, and I wasn't very hopeful of finding anything at all. How wrong I was.

As I bent down to examine a piece of an ornate clay tobacco pipe stem, I noticed a bulge of glass just sticking out of the mud. I wanted to examine it more closely, assuming it was a broken base, but I quickly realised there was much more beneath the surface. I could hardly believe it when I felt the neck. I carefully pulled it out, and there it was, an almost perfect little onion bottle, emerging into a world so different from the one in which it had been discarded. I wanted to share my excitement with someone and called out to the nearest mudlark. Fortunately, he was able to capture my joy on camera (Thanks, Alessio!).

These magical moments undoubtedly keep us coming back to the Thames at low tide. I felt extraordinarily lucky to hold this bottle in my hand; a valuable piece of London history. I like to imagine that before it was thrown into the mud, it accompanied a sailor who travelled to distant places and witnessed some interesting 18th-century conversations! It is now in excellent company: next to two other very old bottles I previously found in the Thames. The three of them could certainly tell some stories!

About Tideline Art

This is Nicola White, self-proclaimed "mudlark" and founder of Tideline Art. Nicola regularly posts videos on her YouTube channel showcasing her incredible treasures and finds. Over the next 12 months, Nicola will be sharing her fascinating stories and finds with us on the Muck Boot blog!

When I moved to London from Cornwall over twenty years ago, I had no idea that the Thames would reveal such a fascinating and magical world to me, and that its muddy banks at low tide would unearth a wealth of historical secrets and figures from the past. I was used to walking along windy beaches in Cornwall and discovering finds, but I never thought anything similar would be possible in an urban environment like London.

More about treasure hunting in the mud
Stories from the Thames
The Rare Tudor Coin

Muck Boot Arctic Sport

Links
Portable Antiquities Scheme Database
Thames Foreshore Permits
Nicola White's YouTube Channel