Not on display

Bottle Ticket

1888-1889 (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. Here the contents would have been gin. 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, pierced and decorated with bright cut engraving
Brief description
Silver, Birmingham hallmarks for 1888-9, mark of George Unite and Sons.
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word GIN. Silver, oblong with cut corners and pierced and bright cut border.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1in
  • Length: 2in
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mark of George Unite and Sons
  • Birmingham hallmarks for 1888-9
  • GIN
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Summary
Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. Here the contents would have been gin. 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.1027-1944

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Record createdFebruary 17, 2005
Record URL
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