This typical 5½in (24cm) high early 18th century mallet form bottle features the finely impressed seal Trengoff in Cornwell 1704.
It had been acquired on a speculative whim at a local antiques fair a year ago for around £300 and the vendor was content to offer it for sale at Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) in Colchester on July 31 with a ‘money-back’ estimate of £300-400.
Instead, following competition between six phone lines and a bidding battle that ended only at £5200, there will be a substantial profit.
The name Trengoffe or Trengove (in Cornish, ‘home of the blacksmith’) has long associations with the lands around Bodmin Moor.
The bottle – in great condition – was probably made for the residents of the Trengoffe manor house that once stood at Warleggan near Pantersbridge, on what was the main thoroughfare connecting Bodmin and Liskeard.
The house, destroyed by fire, was owned in the 17th and 18th centuries by the descendants of Henry Nance of Illogan (d.1561), who took the name Trengoffe after moving across the county.
