Creagh Family Sealed Rickets Patent Wine Bottle c1820

Description

Heading : Rickets patent sealed bottle with applied seal
Date : c1820
Period : George IV
Origin : England
Colour : Brown
Neck : Tapered with a double string rim
Body : Three part moulded Rickets patent bottle with straight thick walls and a defined shoulder. Creach family seal.
Size : 27.5cm tall and approximately 8.4cm in diameter at the base
Condition : Good. one bust air bubble in the rim and two star cracks to the shoulder as shown
Restoration : None
Weight : 777 grams
References : Antique Sealed Bottles 1640-1900 By David Burton – Page 1452.

Additional Information
The bottle bears the initals AGC underneath a crest. To use its full heradlc description – although the colours are. of course. irrelevant to this particular incarnation – it features “a horse’s head. argent. erased. carparisoned gules; in the headstall of the bridle. a laurel branch. vert”. The term “erased” means that the head features a ragged neckline. as if cut with pinking shears rather than having an even baseline; “caparisoned” means that the bridle or harness would have had a decorative covering. in this instance. red. The laurel branch refers to the legend of the family to whom this crest had been granted. the Creaghs or Creaghes of Ireland. Originally known as the O’Nialls. three brothers of the clan were purported to have lead the resistance agasint Viking invaders in the latter part of the tenth century. identifying themselves during battle by affixing laurel branches to their horses’ tack; not only is this reproduced in the crest. but the Gaelic word for branch – craobh or craoibhe – gave rise to the name with which the brothers were feted having seen off the norsemen and which – as a result – went on to become the family surname; it also bears the dual interpretation of meaning “victory” – having its own well-known association with laurel leaves. 

With regard to the initials. given the date of the bottle and the seal they those of Arthur Gethin Creagh – a gentleman landowner from Doneraile. north east of Mallow in County Cork. Ireland. The son of a Mary Gethin Welsh girl who was the daughter of a direct descendent from King Edward III. Arthur flirted with parliamentary privilege. acted alongside the magistrates of the day to apprehend villains and bequeathed enough property to his sons for them to establish themselves as landlords. and sustain themselves in this manner. There will be more about Arthur and his family in a blog entry which will be on-line shortly.