Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

1817-1818 (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
Silver, repoussé and pierced
Brief description
Silver, London hallmarks for 1817-18, mark of Emes and Barnard
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word MADEIRA (pierced lettering). Silver, waisted oblong with rounded corners, gadrooned border with shells and foliage; chain attached
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.375in
  • Length: 2in
Marks and inscriptions
  • London hallmarks for 1817-18
  • Mark of Emes and Barnaerd
  • MADEIRA
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.
Collection
Accession number
M.626-1944

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Record createdJanuary 2, 2008
Record URL
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