拍品专文
This unrecorded sealed bottle was found on or near to the site of Wraxall Court, in Somerset by the current owner's grandfather. Although the initials IG appear difficult to trace, it is highly likely that they originate from the Gorges family who were based at Wraxall from the early 13th century. The impressive Gorges lineage includes Tristram Gorges (d. 1608) who was entrusted by Sir Francis Drake to take the captive Don Pedro de Valdez to the Tower of London following the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and Sir Thomas Gorges (d. 1610) who was second cousin to Elizabeth I. By the end of 17th century the Gorges' appear to have been in decline; the male line devolved on Sir Ferdinando Gorges (1565-1647). Ferdinando was an early English colonial entrepreneur in North America and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World.