Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

ca. 1825 (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. This silver ticket identifies the contents as Madeira, a fortified wine named after the island where it was produced.

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 the designs and technical advances in metalware generally.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver
Brief description
Silver, Chester ca.1825, mark of Robert Bowes?
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word MADEIRA. Silver, pointed oval with chain.
Dimensions
  • Height: 0.75in
  • Length: 1.25in
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mark of RB for Robert Bowes?
  • No hallmarks
  • MADEIRA
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. This silver ticket identifies the contents as Madeira, a fortified wine named after the island where it was produced.

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 the designs and technical advances in metalware generally.
Collection
Accession number
M.57-1944

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Record createdFebruary 8, 2005
Record URL
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