Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

ca. 1790 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This engraved ticket would have hung round the neck of a bottle or decanter of port 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
Sheffield plate, a laminate of sterling silver fused on to a copper core
Brief description
Sheffield plate, England, ca.1790
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word PORT (engraved). Sheffield plate, crescent shaped, curved to a point.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.25in
  • Length: 2in
Marks and inscriptions
PORT
Credit line
Given by Mrs M. D. Chaplin
Summary
This engraved ticket would have hung round the neck of a bottle or decanter of port 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
M.649-1936

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Record createdJanuary 7, 2005
Record URL
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