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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 65, The Whiteley Galleries

Bottle Ticket

1809-1810 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Cayenne is a pungent sauce made from dried and ground capsicum seeds and pods.

The history of bottle tickets provides a fascinating insight into English eating, drinking and personal habits.They were peculiarly English and never became fashionable abroad. Contemporary gazettes begin to refer to ‘labels for bottles’ in the 1770s but it was not until the 1790s that they were established as wine or decanter labels. Their function was to identify the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. These tickets also illustrate in miniature, the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials were enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs in metalware generally. Makers were quick to adapt the many technical advances of the 18th and 19th centuries to the design of bottle tickets.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver
Brief description
Silver, mark of Samuel Whitford II, London hallmarks for 1809-10
Physical description
Bottle ticket, "CAYENNE". Silver, oblong with a loop at the top and a wire ring for attachments.
Dimensions
  • Height: 0.5in
  • Length: 1.0625in
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mark of Samuel Whitford II
  • London hallmarks for 1809-10
  • CAYENNE
Gallery label
"CAYENNE" London, 1809-10 Mark of Samuel Whitford II Cayenne is a pungent sauce made from dried and ground capsicum seeds and pods. J.H. Fitzhenry Gift 1280-1903
Credit line
Given by J. H. Fitzhenry
Object history
J.H. Fitzhenry Gift
Production
Reason For Production: Retail
Summary
Cayenne is a pungent sauce made from dried and ground capsicum seeds and pods.

The history of bottle tickets provides a fascinating insight into English eating, drinking and personal habits.They were peculiarly English and never became fashionable abroad. Contemporary gazettes begin to refer to ‘labels for bottles’ in the 1770s but it was not until the 1790s that they were established as wine or decanter labels. Their function was to identify the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. These tickets also illustrate in miniature, the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials were enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs in metalware generally. Makers were quick to adapt the many technical advances of the 18th and 19th centuries to the design of bottle tickets.
Collection
Accession number
1280-1903

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Record createdSeptember 10, 2004
Record URL
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