Ships, Folk Art, and Whimsey in Bottles

The original coach to operate in United Kingdom was brought into service in 1784 by John Palmer for the purpose of carrying H.M. mails. RFC Bartley had the opportunity to study the detail of an old coach in the Bristol Museum, and was able to build up this design for bottling. The detailed coach is black with wood covered panels outlined in gold. Drawn by four black horses with full rigging. There are four riders including the driver, a buxom female passenger, a young boy in the back seat with a guard holding a horn. There are two trunks on top of the coach. The brown road and the green and brown landscape are built up to the level of the glass curvature. This bottle was made by RFC Bartley, who authored his well-known book "Models In Bottles," published in London by Percival Marshall and Co. in 1951. In this book, R.F.C. Bartley introduced instructions for bottling scenes and objects other than a typical ship in bottle including a Victorian Stage Coach on a Bottle.