Unique Antique Victorian Fry's Chocolate Royal Crest Glass Display Case Cabinet

Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this one of a kind, super unique, curved glass Fry’s Chocolate display case with the original water glass Armorial crest coat of arms etched front panel and never seen before, original pricing to the back!

Where to begin! This is the only time this cabinet will ever be for sale, whomever snaps it up will keep it in their collection forever, I have had everyone and their mum trying to procure it from me hence why it is now listed for sale, I have included a detailed history of the company below

I have never seen another original example for sale of this shape, there have been two examples with domed glass however they both had later replacement glass with none of the original etchings on, this is the 100% original period panel which is “water glass” so it has the ripples, water glass is so named because water always lays (due to gravity) 100% perfectly flat, the molten glass was then poured into the water creating flat panels, how they managed to make curved water glass I’ll never know, with a great deal of difficulty I would imagine which is why this is the only example I have been able to find anywhere in the world

The cabinet also has to the rear, all the original shop pricing and various other business information from the Victorian era and a few later, this really is the finest snap shot in time one could ever hope to wish for

The condition is museum quality perfect, there is nothing I would change about it, we have cleaned the glass and cleaned waxed and polished the timber being sure to preserve all the back pricing

J. S. Fry & Sons, Ltd., better known as Fry's, was a British chocolate company owned by Joseph Storrs Fry and his family. Beginning in Bristol in 1761, the business went through several changes of name and ownership, becoming J. S. Fry & Sons in 1822. In 1847, Fry's produced the first solid chocolate bar. The company also created the first filled chocolate sweet, Cream Sticks, in 1853. Fry is most famous for Fry's Chocolate Cream, the first mass-produced chocolate bar, which was launched in 1866, and Fry's Turkish Delight, launched in 1914.

Fry, alongside Cadbury and Rowntree's, was one of the big three British confectionery manufacturers throughout much of the 19th and 20th centuries, and all three companies were founded by Quakers. The company became a division of Cadbury in the early 20th century. The division's Somerdale Factory near Bristol was closed after the 2010 takeover of Cadbury's by Kraft Foods Inc.

Joseph Fry, a Quaker, was born in 1728. He started making chocolate around 1759. In 1761, Fry and John Vaughan purchased a small shop from an apothecary, Walter Churchman, and with it the patent for a chocolate refining process. The company was then named Fry, Vaughan & Co. In 1777 the chocolate works moved from Newgate Street to Union Street, Bristol. Joseph Fry died in 1787 and the company was renamed Anna Fry & Son. In 1795 Joseph Storrs Fry assumed control of the company. He patented a method of grinding cocoa beans using a Watt steam engine, and as a result, factory techniques were introduced into the cocoa business.

In 1803, Anna Fry died and Joseph Storrs Fry partnered with a Dr. Hunt. The business was renamed Fry & Hunt. In 1822 Hunt retired and Joseph Storrs Fry took on his sons Joseph, Francis and Richard as partners: the firm was renamed J. S. Fry & Sons. The company became the largest commercial producer of chocolate in the UK. In 1835, Joseph Storrs Fry died and his sons took full control.

In 1847, the Fry's chocolate factory on Union Street, Bristol, moulded a chocolate bar suitable for large-scale production. The firm began producing the Fry's Chocolate Cream bar in 1866. Although cacao being consumed in solid form was not unheard of, Fry's is considered the first chocolate bar suitable for widespread consumption. Over 220 products were introduced in the following decades, including the UK's first chocolate Easter egg in 1873 and Fry's Turkish Delight (or Fry's Turkish bar) in 1914. In 1896, the firm became a registered private company, run by the Fry family, with Joseph Storrs Fry II, grandson of the first Joseph Storrs Fry, as the chairman.

In 1881, an employee of Fry's, H. J. Packer, established his own chocolate business in Bristol. At its eventual home in Greenbank, Bristol, Packer's Chocolate continued to provide local competition for Fry's until 2006, under various owners and brands, from Bonds through to Famous Names and Elizabeth Shaw.

Near the start of World War I, the company was one of the largest employers in Bristol. Joseph Storrs Fry II died in 1913. In 1919 the company merged with Cadbury's chocolate and the joint company was named British Cocoa and Chocolate Company. Under Egbert Cadbury the Fry's division began from 1923 to move to Somerdale, Keynsham, just outside Bristol. After 1981 the name Fry's was no longer in use at Somerdale; however, the factory was still a major producer of Cadbury products.

Condition report:

Please view the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed

Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on any point, please feel free to ask for clarity

Please note vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade