Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 67, The Whiteley Galleries

Bottle Ticket

late 19th century (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 combines the letters that identify the contents as whiskey.

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 the fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver
Brief description
Electroplate, England late 19th century
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word "WHISKEY". Electroplated nickel silver, engraved; large capital letter "W" filled in with scrolls and crossed by a large cut out panel of the remaining letters (HISKEY); chain attached
Dimensions
  • Length: 5.5cm
  • Width: 5.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • No marks
  • WHISKEY
Gallery label
"WHISKEY" Electroplate British, late 19th century M.1273-1944(2000)
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Object history
Acquisition RF: 44 / 177
Bequest - P.J. Cropper
per W J Sheldrick
Subject depicted
Summary
Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. This ticket combines the letters that identify the contents as whiskey.

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 the fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.
Collection
Accession number
M.1273-1944

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Record createdMarch 3, 2004
Record URL
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