Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

1750-1800 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The history of bottle tickets provides a fascinating insight into English eating, drinking and personal habits. 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. Their function was to identify the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. These tickets also illustrate in miniature, the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials were enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs in metalware generally. Makers were quick to adapt the many technical advances of the 18th and 19th centuries.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Sheffield plate, laminate of silver fused on to copper core
Brief description
Sheffield plate, Sheffield, ca.1750-1800
Physical description
Bottle ticket (one of a set of four) with the words RED PORT. Sheffield plate, (plated on one side only), fancy escutcheon with a scrolled border and designs of vines and flowers; chain attached
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.5in
  • Length: 2.25in
Marks and inscriptions
  • No marks
  • RED PORT
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Subjects depicted
Summary
The history of bottle tickets provides a fascinating insight into English eating, drinking and personal habits. 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. Their function was to identify the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. These tickets also illustrate in miniature, the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials were enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs in metalware generally. Makers were quick to adapt the many technical advances of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
M.739-1944

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Record createdDecember 10, 2007
Record URL
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