Bottle Ticket thumbnail 1
Not on display

Bottle Ticket

1898-1899 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Bitters was an aromatic alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink with a bitter flavour. It could also be used to flavour drinks. 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
Materials and techniques
Silver
Brief description
Silver, hallmarks for Chester 1898-9, mark of Nathan & Hayes
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word BITTERS. Silver, fancy escutcheon with engraved scroll edge and chain attached.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.75in
  • Length: 2.5in
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mark of Nathan & Hayes for George Nathan and Ridley Hayes
  • Chester hallmarks for 1898-9
  • BITTERS
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Summary
Bitters was an aromatic alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink with a bitter flavour. It could also be used to flavour drinks. 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.320-1944

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Record createdDecember 20, 2004
Record URL
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