Four glass bottles that are all square, mould-blown 'case bottles', with a typical tapering profile. The square shape enabled them to be packed more efficiently in a case than round bottles, and the tapering profile stopped them from sticking when removed from the case. These were used for gin (although undoubtedly also sometimes for other spirits or wine). Square case bottles were made in Europe from the middle of the 17th century, but the tapering form seems to have become more common in the 19th century. From the 1880s the bottles were machine made, and the rims properly finished - these examples therefore probably date to the 19th century, but pre-dating the 1880s. Four glass bottles that are all square, mould-blown 'case bottles', with a typical tapering profile. The square shape enabled them to be packed more efficiently in a case than round bottles, and the tapering profile stopped them from sticking when removed from the case. These were used for gin (although undoubtedly also sometimes for other spirits or wine). Square case bottles were made in Europe from the middle of the 17th century, but the tapering form seems to have become more common in the 19th century. From the 1880s the bottles were machine made, and the rims properly finished - these examples therefore probably date to the 19th century, but pre-dating the 1880s. This item was found along with an ivy leaf teacup (MAS-D100051). A RDF representation of MAS-D100038 2017-05-21T14:02:28+01:00 2017-09-26T13:13:09+01:00 MAS-D100038 MAS-D100038 GB en-GB The Trustees of the British Museum The Trustees of the British Museum 1 The period from for the object http://purl.org/NET/Claros/vocab#Thumbnail Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum A thumbnail image of MAS-D100038 With finder MAS Created by MAS L M L M Identified by L M V L Identified by V L Glass Primary material of object Complete By Attribution 3.0 Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum A full resolution image of MAS-D100038 Classification of object