Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

1830-1831 (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. 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, London hallamrks for 1830-31, mark of William Knight.
Physical description
Bottle ticket (one of a pair) slot type. Silver, ribbon with above, a boar's head and trophies of arms and below, a bowl with vine leaves and grapes; chain attached.
Dimensions
  • Length: 6.5cm
  • Width: 5.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
No marks (The aperture and slot were presumably made at a later date by cutting out the original name, on the back of which were the marks. The original marks were presumably identical to M.1302-1944.)
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Object history
Acquisition RF: 44 / 177
Bequest - P.J. Cropper
per W J Sheldrick
Subjects depicted
Summary
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 the designs and technical advances in metalware generally.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
M.1301-1944

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Record createdAugust 5, 2005
Record URL
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