Guild of Bottellmakers’

A Guild of Bottellmakers’ was established in London in 1373, and from this point it was ordered that ‘every Bottilmaker put his signe to the Bottills and to other vessels by them of leather from henceforth to be made.’ The demand for their product was such, however, that pouchmakers and other leatherworkers made bottles too and by 1476, the fortunes of the specialist bottle-makers had declined. In an attempt to revive and regulate their trade the Guild of Bottellmakers’ joined forces with the Horners’, and this union is commemorated in the arms of the combined Companies, which includes three leather costrels and three hunting horns.