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

Bottle Ticket

1870-1871 (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 label takes the form of letters suspended from a cord that spell out the word PORT, a fortified wine from the Douro valley in Portugal.

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
"PORT" Silver, London hallmarks for 1870-71, no mark
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the word "PORT." Silver, sans serif capitals represented as strung on a cord; chain attached
Dimensions
  • Length: 4.9cm
  • Width: 3.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • London hallmarks for 1870-71
  • No mark
  • Design Registration mark for 1870
  • PORT
Gallery label
"PORT" London, 1870-71 Registered design M.1267-1944(2000)
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 label takes the form of letters suspended from a cord that spell out the word PORT, a fortified wine from the Douro valley in Portugal.

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.1267-1944

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Record createdMarch 3, 2004
Record URL
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