Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
AjGv 30 11E23 3 |
Object Name |
Bottle |
Description |
An empty, octagonal glass bottle with faces of alternating widths: four sides measure 3.5 cm wide, and four measure 1 cm wide. The neck and a substantial portion of the shoulder are missing, leaving an irregular hole. The glass has a slight pink-purple hue, most noticeable when viewed from the base of the bottle.One of the faces bears the inscription "E. HOOPER & C. CHEMISTS." Beneath this text is a seal or brand featuring the phrase "HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE." Below the seal is the address: "43 KING ST. W., TORONTO." |
Year Range from |
1850 |
Dimensions |
H-13 W-5 L-5 cm |
History |
This item was excavated at Benares Historic House. In 1991, the Ontario Heritage Foundation conducted an archaeological excavation at the site. The most significant finds were located in areas historically used as refuse dumps by the Harris family. These sites provided valuable insight into the daily life of the family and included the perimeter of the house, wine cellar, summer kitchen, carriage shed, dairy and ice house, bake oven, potting shed, and the privy (outhouse). Hooper & Co. was one of Toronto’s oldest and best-known pharmacies. Their main store and laboratory were located at 43 King Street West, with a satellite location at 444 Spadina Avenue. The company originated around 1833 as Jos. Beckett & Co., later operated by Edward and Charles E. Hooper, and subsequently by F.H. Holgate and A.R. Fraser. A description from Toronto Illustrated (1893) highlights the prestige of the firm: "Their main store on King street west is one of the finest in the city...and fitted up and furnished throughout as only a first-class establishment of its kind should be. Here will be found a full and complete stock of purse, fresh drugs, chemicals, pharmaceutical specialties, toilet and fancy articles, and the firm have always on hand a number of preparations of their own compounding, which are highly recommended by all who have used them ...The firms' laboratory is one of the best equipped in the city, where family recipes and physicians' prescriptions are carefully and accurately compounded" (page 161) Over 94,000 artifacts and fragments were recovered during the excavation, made from materials such as glass, ceramics, buttons, bone, and metal. This bottle is part of the Benares Archaeological Collection, offering a tangible link to the domestic and commercial life of the Harris family and the broader community in 19th-century Ontario. References: Toronto illustrated, 1893 by Consolidated Illustrating Co. Benares Archaeological Collection https://www.mississauga.ca/arts-and-culture/museums/collections/archaeology-collections/ |