Not currently on display at the V&A

Bottle Ticket

ca. 1810 (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 hoop-shaped label identifies the contents as sherry. 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 particular ticket is made of Sheffield plate, a thin layer of silver fused to a copper core, that was first produced in the early 1740s.


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, no marks, Sheffield?, ca.1810
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word SHERRY. Sheffield plate, hoop form
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.2cm
  • Length: 7.1cm
  • Width: 7.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • No martks
  • SHERRY
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Object history
Acquisition RF: 44 / 177
Bequest - P.J. Cropper
per W J Sheldrick
Summary
Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. This hoop-shaped label identifies the contents as sherry. 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 particular ticket is made of Sheffield plate, a thin layer of silver fused to a copper core, that was first produced in the early 1740s.
Collection
Accession number
M.11-1944

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Record createdMarch 3, 2004
Record URL
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