Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

ca. 1875-1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. Here the maker has ingeniously combined the letters that spell out the word whisky. 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.

These tickets also illustrate, in miniature, the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials was enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Electroplatyed nickel silver
Brief description
Electroplate, England, ca.1875-1900
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word WHISKY. Electroplated nickel silver, engraved: large capital W filled in with scrolls and crossed by a cut out panel of the remaining letters; chain attached.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.5in
  • Length: 1.5in
Marks and inscriptions
  • No marks
  • WHISKY
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Summary
Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. Here the maker has ingeniously combined the letters that spell out the word whisky. 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.

These tickets also illustrate, in miniature, the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials was enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.
Collection
Accession number
M.1272-1944

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdDecember 31, 2004
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest