Medieval bottles were small. The manufacture of fairly large bottles for storing drinks was not begun until the second half of the 16th century. The first of these were so called angular bottles, which were square and short-necked. They could easily be transported in purpose-made wooden boxes, where there was a separate compartment for each bottle. Globular bottles became common in the 17th century and the cylindrical bottles, which are so familiar to us, only as late as the 18th century. Angular bottles became common at the end of the 16th century in all of the Nordic Countries. The bottles were usually made of dark green and sometimes of colourless or blue glass, and sometimes also decorated with enamelling.
