Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

1829-1830 (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 pierced lettering identifies the contents as port, a fortified wine from Oporto in Portugal that was particularly popular in Britain.

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
Silver
Brief description
Silver, London hallmarks for 1829-1830, mark of C, Gibson.
Physical description
Bottle ticket, (one of a pair) with the word PORT (pierced lettering). Silver, scrolls with border of shells and vines and chain (now detached).
Dimensions
  • Height: 1in
  • Length: 2in
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mark of CG for C. Gibson
  • London hallmarks for 1829-1830
  • PORT
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Object history
Acquisition RF: 44 / 177
Bequest - P.J. Cropper
per W J Sheldrick
Of a pair "Sherry"
Subjects depicted
Summary
Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. Here the pierced lettering identifies the contents as port, a fortified wine from Oporto in Portugal that was particularly popular in Britain.

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.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
M.640-1944

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Record createdJanuary 27, 2005
Record URL
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