Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

1827-1828 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Bucellas is a type of Portuguese wine. Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. 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
Engraved silver
Brief description
Silver, mark of SW, Birmingham hallmarks for 1827-28
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word BUCELLAS. Silver, octagonal engraved with a double line border and chain attached.
Dimensions
  • Height: 0.9375in
  • Length: 1.625in
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mark of SW (unidentified)
  • Birmingham hallmarks for 1827-8
  • BUCELLAS
Credit line
Given by J. H. Fitzhenry
Summary
Bucellas is a type of Portuguese wine. Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. 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
1263-1903

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Record createdDecember 31, 2004
Record URL
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