Thirteen Bovril bottles, discarded after the death of Mary Everett in 1908. Each is embossed either ‘2oz’ or ‘4oz’ and ‘Bovril, Limited’. Early Bovril bottles from the 1890s bear the Registration number and Farringdon Street address (unlike these later examples), and they do not have the standardized contents embossed. From 1913, Bovril bottles were made in automatic bottle machines. The ones illustrated here are all hand-finished: i.e. they have tooled lips. They were made at various glassworks and are mostly of slightly different design, shape and colour. On the bases are the following marks: (2oz): RP/54, 308/?, BV/587, 324/VR, ?; (4oz): 399/B, C.26/ RP/74, RP/74, DB/42, RP/74 (as before), BV/44.
Bovril Bottles from 1908
Food and Drink
How would these bottles have been sealed?
They had corks with paper labels over the top, but later Bovrils (from the 1920s) had twist-on metal caps.
We have just found a bovril limited 1oz bottle with (lools like) ucb or s and A37.
Found a bonox jar with the words on both sides in lightning ridge NSW Australia..please advise
Ive just dug one up in the garden 16 oz one with cork
Just found a 2 oz a39 209 ugb
Hi there I dug up a 1oz bovril with 6D embossed on the front I was wondering what that means?
That was the price of the bottle.
I found sea glass with bovril written on it, brought in on a wave on abeach in the Caribbean
Hello, I’ve found a 1 oz Bovril jar with a screw neck, seams at the side and FGC on the bottom. Can you please tell me approximately when these were made. I dug it up in my garden.
Hello Linda, if the bottle has an external screw-thread, it would date after c. 1930. The cork/cap was giving way to screw-on lids on Bovril bottles by that date. Tom
What is the f104 mean at the below the bovril limited at the side of the 1oz jar?
Hi I found a 2oz bovril limited bottle on the beach with code C17 on base. Just wondering if anyone can give me a date?
We have dug up a 1oz sealed bottle of Bovril, marked on the side with “Bovril Limited, F116”. Seems like there is still remnants of Bovril inside.
I found an 8 oz BOVRIL Limited Bottle.
Marked H 5 at the bottom.
Any comments will be appreciated
I’ve just found (my first one), a 1/2 Oz Bovril Ltd as well. Apparently they are rare. Wife was fed up lol. Don’t have any idea how much they’re worth though. Might be able to find one your size on Etsy or eBay.
We have a bovril bottle with 2oz
Bovril limited and a number .
Can’t read it clearly….ends with 86.
Hi mine has H 4 on base
I found an 8 Oz Bovril jar here with 410 or o at the bottom of the embossing. I’m in Sabah, Borneo.
Hi, I have a bottle like these little ones but the makes on the bottom reads 14 H or 14 l H . Can you give any information of the year because I’m getting know where in trying to find any. Thanks.
Hi Carmel, thanks for getting in touch. The marks on the base concern the batch number or glassworks’ details, not the year. We were able to date the ones in the photo because the deposit they were found in was securely dated to 1908. Until about 1913-14, Bovril bottles were hand-finished and will have a seam that ends before the lip. After that, they were machine-made, and the seam will run through the lip at the top of the bottle. In the later 1920s/1930s, shorter necks come in.
There is a Bovril group on facebook….
My late husband’s grandmother claimed, that her brother designed the original Boris bottle. Is this probable ????
He was an Irishman named O’Brian or O’Brine.
Bovril, of course !!!!!
It may be. I haven’t research the company history in any detail. Perhaps someone else will know. Thanks for telling us!
I Have Found 2 bottles in my garden
4oz F316
And
1oz F112
Essex
Not sure Date of these bottles but there are other Bottles Ink, Schweppes, perfume etc, I have yet to identify these aswell anyone know any info be great to connect
Just found bovril bottle in garden. Long neck. Markings underneath are A40-30-ucb or ugb .
What is date likely to be ?
1910’s??
Hi I found greenish coloured 4oz bovril bottle seem runs through lip. Was this common colour and how could it be
Green was not a common colour – Bovril bottles are usually brown glass, but during the First World War the glassworks couldn’t always get the usual mix of chemicals (or combine them properly in the new bottling machines), so we sometimes find shades of green, blue and turquoise from the 1910s.
That would have been 140 years ago if the dates work out.
Hi Kristen, if it was over 133 years ago, it is quite possible … the bottle was invented in 1888.
i have one of these
I found one of these in my garden today
I have found a 2oz Bovril Limited bottle on a beach on the Helford River, Cornwall, 2 weeks ago. I think this has been washed out from the bank at the back of the beach after the recent storms, otherwise it would have been smashed by the waves on the pebbles. No number on the base.
My stepson brought home a Bovril Limited 2oz that was dug up in a garden on the base it has either 9X or X9 would this be a 1900’s bottle ????
Found one today at The Lizard, Cornwall on the site of an old dump. It’s a 2oz I think, and marked Bovril, Limited, RD 100848. Please note the RD is a Registered Design Number, it seems to be often read as RP though maybe that does appear too ? It also has the letter S in a rectangle on the base .
Hi all, i have a 2oz bottle with a cork top with the numbers
529 vr on the base can anyone shed some light as to it age thanks
Hi Tony, thanks for contacting us. Screw-top bottles were coming in by the 1930s, so yours will be earlier than that. If there’s a mould seam running all the way to the top (through the lip of the bottle), it will be after about 1913. Without being able to see it, I can’t be more precise. Tom
Hi Tom, I found a 2oz jar on the beach with I GB 414-1 VII On the base any idea how old this is? Doesn’t match with any of the other comments, thanks Pierce
found a bovril limted jar with broken top 2 oz with the bottom it says. 8 H, any idea when this was from, found in newshot nature reserve view pont
Hello Tom,
I have just dug up a selection of old bottles from my garden, including a couple of brown bovril jars
Having read through your comments, I have a 2oz & 4oz. They both have the long necks and have a seam running through the lip.
Would they be dated anywhere between 1914 and late 1920’s do you think?
Many thanks
Suzanne
I found one about 2’ deep today! I am so glad I checked before throwing it away. The seam runs through the lip so it looks like mine dates roughly between 1914 to 1920-30. How cool.
It’s a 4oz bottle with the number F310.
Hi Tom. I have a Bovril jar that is 37 centimetres high. With a long neck of 16 centimetres. It looks like a separate collar was fitted when made. The only writing on it is Bovril limited. Could you please tell me a bit about it. Thanks Eddie.
They were a shop display bottle given to the shop owners between 1890 to 1910 as an incentive for the stock the sold. You will see some of mine on the Bovril facebook page. They had a large paper label front and back and paper label around the neck. they also had a cork in the top and covered with a fine pewter seal. If you ever wish to sell, feel free to contact me. Cheers
Does anyone know what 27bv means?
I believe it is a batch number, as someone mentioned further up the thread
I have the 4 sizes including the tiny miniature one I love collecting bottles and seeing this post has answered some questions thankyou
Which Minature bottle do you have? Is it the 1 Oz or 1/2 Oz?
Thanks Jemima
Hi Anthony, there is the 1/2 oz Bovril as you have, they are quite common as they had a single serve in the bottle and they were cheap. They kept the poorer people alive, so to speak and you will find the 16oz bottles in the wealthy area dumps. Bovril also had a 37gram bottle which was sold in a 12 pack, that is the smallest Bovril. You will be able to see one on the Bovril Facebook page. There was also a small sheer lip Bovril made by Peter Pan toy company for children of the day to play with. They are both very rare. Cheers
Hi
I have 2x 2oz Bovril jars one green one brown. Seam at top of both
Writing on bottom of green is GB 41and a back to front 4
Then an I underneath
The brown one has the following writing on the bottom IGB
414.8
LIII
Would anyone know the date of these please? Found on a riverbank in Ireland
Thanks
She
I have also the wooden pallet box the 4oz bottles would of been packaged in to
Hi, I have just found one, it has what I think is the price is molded in the glass, 6 D also made in England and by F C C on the bottom, number 107 is also on the jar.
I just today located one of these bottles, a two oz, on a beach here in sydney Australia. Strangley it is in pristine condition stating “made in England” around the bottom of it. Anybody know what do do next?
I have just found one in my garden. Bovril limited 2oz with A11 on the base .
I found a 2oz Bovril bottle in Castlebar , Ireland in 2018 with number 221 on side and UGB on the bottom could anybody give me the approx year it was produced and where it was made , many thanks
UGB stands for United Glass Bottles (later just UG, and sometime earlier it was UGBM with the additional “Manufacturers”). The company was based at Peasley Cross in St Helens, Lancashire, England. It closed down in 1980s. The factory site was redeveloped in 2010 and is now the stadium of the twice world champion St Helens Rugby League Club.
Hello – just found a bovril bottle washed up on a beach in Ireland. I’m trying to figure out approx when it dates back to. I can’t seem to find any other bottle that has the same or similar markings as this one, on the internet. It does have the continuous seem along the sides that continues onto the lip of the lid. It is not a screw top lid. The bottom reads : 1 G B 414-6 L11. Any ideas? Thanks!
… Forgot to add… It’s a brown 2oz bottle with a short neck
We have dug up a 1oz bottle in our garden. It has a hand finished top and the code 447F on the bottom. The top still has a metal/foil cuff round the rim about 1cm in depth.
Hi, I have a 4oz bottle with seams which do not go through the neck and no screw top. Bovril Limited is embossed on both sides and on one side it has the number 367 below this mark. On the base it say ‘bottle made in England’ around the edge and what looks like BY FC in the centre.
Found a limited bovril bottle 4oz with h6 on the bottom what does h6 mean
My son found 3 of sixteen oz Bovril jars, 1 of 2 oz, 1 of 4 oz and 1 of 8 oz, in a garden on the Isle of Wight. I think that it was a local rubbish dump. I do not know when they were produced but I would be very interested if anyone knows?
I picked up one during an earth excavation. No oz marking just Bovril Limited on the side. Seam stops short of the lip so probably older version bottle.
I have one with no markings on the base, under the writing on the side it has F214. The seam starts from the edge of the round section of the base and continues through the rim of the top lip
I have been given two 2oz bottles by my brother. The were found in a garden in Lyndhurst, Hampshire. By the description, they are the early bottles (no seam) and the house, whose garden it was found in, dates from the turn of the century.
I have a green one do you have any info on this ?
Very nice, Its called the Bovril third shape, from @ 1926 to 1956, awesome colour!! Great find. Cheers
I have a 2 oz dk amber Bovril limited bottle with a long neck cork top.it has a seam just below the lip. It says “made in USA ” on the bottom.
Yes, they were made in USA, England, Canada, Ireland and South Africa. They have either been embossed on the fronts or base. Cheers
My husband found a 16oz bottle in an old shed on our property
Hello, we have an 8oz brown glass Bovril Jar which was dug up in my garden when work was being carried out on our house. We Live in Somerset. It’s in great condition. It has 3 digits on one side. It says made in England on the base. We’d love to know the age of this Bovril jar.
Hi, my 4 oz bottle was found during water proofing excavation around my house in Toronto Canada. It has seams that stop at the neck and Bovril Limited embossed on both sides but no other visible markings.
Just found a 2oz Bovril bottle on a beach in Gairloch NW Scotland. The seam runs through the rim so I’m guessing 1914-20ish.
Just found a 2oz bottle in the low tide muds of Roundstone Harbour in Connemara Ireland with the seam through the lip marked Bovril Limited F213. Would love to know the year of manufacture.
Don’t know if this is monitored by someone or just comments. Looking to see if anyone else had found the 1/2oz Bovril? I can’t find any pics and read that it was an early sample bottle.
Can some comment on this please?
Thanks allot
Hi Anthony, wish I could post some pictures here. Check out the Bovril facebook page. Cheers
2oz Bovril Limited bottle dug up from our garden yesterday.
Seam ends just before top of the neck. On the bottom has what looks like SG, one below the other. Any idea of date?
If the seam doesn’t run through the lip, it’s probably before 1913, when Bovril switched to machine-manufactured bottles.
I found a BOVRIL bottle on the foreshore of the Thames, 2oz, that has the number 232 on the side, below the 2oz BOVRIL Limited. It has a screw top so I understand it would be from 1930s? when did they stop producing them? Thanks.
My boyfriend found one today on his farm in central Western Australia. It says 2 oz BOVRIL LIMITED on both sides and underneath CJ3 I think I can make out. It is brown glass.
My young son Daire has just found a 2oz Bovril bottle in our field. Has a lipped top and F207 on bottle. Any idea of dating ???
Exciting find for Daire. See if the mould seam runs all the way through the lip, to the very top of the bottle. If it does, the bottle will date after 1913. If not, it will be earlier.
This afternoon we have just found a 2oz F206 sticking out of the mud by the tidal River Itchen in Southampton and the seam does run through the lip. So post 1913 to maybe 1920s ( reading replies to previous posts)
I have found a very small Bovril bottle with h13 on bottom looks hand-printed,It’s supposed to say Bovril limited but there is no B,one side says ovril limited,the other side says ovril does anyone have a to clue
Hi Dean, Are you sure its a Bovril, there were many other companies that made similar meat extracts and made similar shaped bottles … one was called OXVIL with a similar type bottle. Would love to see this bottle, post a picture to the Bovril facebook group if you wish. Certainly have not seen one before. Cheers
I have a Bovril bottle that i dug out of the side of a beck in Middleborough in the north east of England . its a clear glass bottle its 22cm 8.3/4″ in height with out the cork and 4.3/4cm 1.3/4″ wide . it has bovril at the base of the neck and on the base of the bottle it has a anchor with the numbers 119 and 92 on both sides of the anchor. i have searched the net and can not find a similar one to it . sorry a beck is a stream in north Yorkshire Teesside . any information would be very much appreciated ..
How interesting. I have not come across this sort of bottle. Thanks for letting us know, Steve. I’ll see if I can find out what it was for. Tom
I also have one of these bottles. Exactly as you describe but it doesn’t have the anchor or numbers on the base.
Moi j’ai une bouteille 1 oz et dessous la bouteille le chiffre 337
I found a 1 oz Bovril bottle today on Sandown beach Isle of Wight
Just found a found one that says F201 on the side and by FCC on bottom?
I unearthed one in the garden in Taree NSW Australia today. It is short brown bottle 2oz with the number F117. Any ideas?