Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

1791-1792 (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 fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Bottle Ticket
  • Chain
Materials and techniques
Silver, pierced and engraved
Brief description
Silver, London hallmarks for 1791-2, mark of E. Robinson and T. Phipps
Physical description
Bottle Ticket "PORT" (pierced lettering). Silver, crescent with central point and double reeded edge; the outer points terminate in circular eyelets to which the chain is attached. Above the centre rises a shield engraved with a monogram JID.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.375in
  • Length: 2in
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mark of TP over ER for Thomas Phipps and Edward Robinson
  • London hallmarks for 1791-2
  • Engraved with the monogram, JID
  • PORT
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Object history
Bequest - P. J. Cropper
per W J Sheldrick
Acquisition RF: 44 / 177
Production
Reason For Production: Retail
Subject 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 fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.
Collection
Accession number
M.447-1944

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Record createdSeptember 10, 2004
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest