⭕ This stunning green glass octagonal bottle,which up to the present time there was believed to be only one known example in this size and colour,is heavily embossed with a pictorial featuring an heraldic shield bearing a chevron between three owls,surmounted by a lion and with scrolled inscription below, all this above the wordLONDON.
My opinion is that this is the one pint size which in its day retailed for 7/6d.
The 7 tall bottle weighing 425gms,with rolled lip and cross hinge base mould,is remarkably,in truly superb condition.
Joshua Webster MD (c1709-1801),formulated his patent remedyDr. Websters diet drink,or Cerevisia Anglicanain 1742.The secret recipe was inherited by a Southwark wine merchant called Samuel Slee whose descendants traded as Edward Slee and Co.,based at successive locations in the London area- ennington, Lee,Harlington and Hounslow.
The drink was marketed as a non-specific remedy of vegetable composition.In reality the active ingredients included quicksilver and sublimate of mercury.The medicine was sold directly from the warehouse and through retail chemists.The liquid came in either green or red bottles,both manufactured in a curious octagonal shape,thus adding to the mystery of the recipe.The proprietors,Edward Slee and Co.,seem to have ceased trading shortly after the turn of the 19th century.