Bottle Ticket
1821-1822 (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, die stamped and engraved |
Brief description | Bottle ticket 'RYE', silver, London hallmarks for 1821-22, mark of John Andrews II. |
Physical description | Bottle ticket (one of set of four) with the word RYE. Silver, of die stamped sheet form, the borders formed of crouching lions, shells and vines with the national emblems: roses thistles and shamrocks beneath suggesting a commemorative function to coincide with the coronation of George IV in 1821. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Credit line | Bequeathed by W.T.L. Hives |
Object history | This label appears to have been re-engraved, the original name initially being filled with hard solder. |
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.155C-1978 |
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Record created | December 29, 2006 |
Record URL |
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