Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

ca. 1820 (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. This ticket identifies the contents as sherry, a fortified wine from Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain. 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. This example is made of Sheffield plate, which consists of a thin layer of silver fused onto a copper core. First made in 1742, Sheffield plate rapidly became a popular and less expensive alternative to silver.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Sheffield plate, a laminate of Sterling silver fused on to a copper core.
Brief description
Sheffield plate, Sheffield? ca.1820
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word SHERRY. Sheffield plate, crescent with reeded edge and chain attached.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.5in
  • Length: 2in
Marks and inscriptions
  • No marks
  • SHERRY
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. This ticket identifies the contents as sherry, a fortified wine from Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain. 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. This example is made of Sheffield plate, which consists of a thin layer of silver fused onto a copper core. First made in 1742, Sheffield plate rapidly became a popular and less expensive alternative to silver.
Collection
Accession number
M.380-1944

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Record createdFebruary 17, 2005
Record URL
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